ABC has for too long been unwilling to push back against interference – at its journalists’ expense
The ABC’s managing director, David Anderson, isn’t a journalist, which makes executing his editorial leadership function extra difficult, argues Denis Muller in this crossposting from The Conversation. And this was on show with the exit of Emma Alberici.
For those who watch the affairs of the ABC through the eyes of a critical friend, the removal of Emma Alberici, made public on August 21, is deeply disturbing.
It is the climax to a destructive series of events that began more than two years ago and once again draws attention to two serious weaknesses in the ABC’s management arrangements.
One is structural: the editor-in-chief is fatally compromised in that role by also being managing director. The managing director has corporate responsibilities that conflict with his or her editorial responsibilities every time the government tightens the financial screws.
