Since the ABC’s managing director Michelle Guthrie stepped into the most-scrutinised media job in the country, her lack of a news background has often been raised in commentary. While the ABC was bumbling around sorting out the Emma Alberici mess it created, Fairfax’s Tony Wright argued that the broadcaser needed a separate editor-in-chief, given that Guthrie was “out of her depth … (and) is not a journalist”.

Guthrie’s immediate predecessor Mark Scott had worked as an education reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald before moving up as a Fairfax Media editorial executive. And in the late ’90s, Brian Johns was at the helm (after a stint in the same role at the SBS), having worked as a journalist and chief of staff for The Sydney Morning Herald, before some time in book publishing. The bosses between those journalists were Russell Balding, who’d been a financial director, and the disastrous Jonathan Shier who had worked in the business side of broadcast media.

We took the question of whether a journalist is best for the ABC’s top job to some informed media-watchers to find out what they thought.

Quentin Dempster, former Stateline host and ABC staff-appointed director

There is no fundamental need for the ABC MD to be a journalist. But experience as a journalist, creator and/or publisher/broadcaster of content is preferable, along with, of course, high-level strategic, financial, administrative, communications and leadership skills. 

Although the ABC Act does not state this, since its transformation from a commission to a corporation in 1983, the MD has been considered to be an operational editor-in-chief. Like any publisher/broadcaster, the ABC can be sued for defamation and contempt for anything it publishes. Editorial judgements which require the ABC to take considerable publication risk (at taxpayers’ expense) require upward referral from news producers and current affairs executive producers to the head of news and then to the MD. The MD, as editor-in-chief, has the discretion to raise any pre-publication concerns with the full ABC board prior to publication.

This can be problematic depending on the courage or cowardice of government-appointed ABC directors and the staff-elected director. In the 1980s, the full ABC board, then chaired by Dame Leonie Kramer, signed off on the Four Corners‘ report which led to the Wran Royal Commission. A politically stacked board can thwart fearless journalism of course. This became apparent in the 1990s when the Donald McDonald board spiked the ABC Books’ publication of Chris Masters’ book on Alan Jones. “Pick and stick” we called it. A black mark on that board but the scandal helped make it clear where its obligations lay.

All ABC editorial executives have instantaneous access to ABC in-house lawyers who now have a vast collective memory and have helped develop case law in defamation in Australia. So ultimately the buck stops with the board, advised by the MD. The ABC’s governance hierarchy at each stage of editorial judgement has to weigh the defences available, the acceptable risk to taxpayers but with the ABC’s over-riding charter obligation for independent, objective and fearless journalism. Any ABC MD must have demonstrable skills in making these judgements, hopefully always to enhance the ABC’s reputation as a trusted and fearless practitioner of public interest journalism.

NOTE: Since this item was first published, former Four Corners executive producer Jonathan Holmes has written to correct Dempster’s reference to the full board signing off the report that led to the Wran Royal Commission. You can read his response here.

Peter Blunden, News Corp Victorian managing director — editorial

Running a corporation as complex as the ABC demands a wide range of leadership skills and should not be the exclusive domain of journalists. The best candidates could well be journalists, and often are, but the MD’s role should not be the exclusive domain of the profession. A strong knowledge of the media industry is clearly advantageous and desirable (though seemingly not compulsory from past experience).

But the ABC is more than a news organisation and has ballooned in size and scope over the years, often beyond its charter. Journalists and editors should clearly run the news and current affairs divisions, without carrying political baggage; the MD should possess the leadership skills and vision which best align with the position’s responsibilities, regardless of their background.

Margaret Simons, journalist, author and Associate Professor of journalism at Monash University

Not necessarily. Mark Scott was MD for so long that people tend to think his is the only model — and he, of course, had been a journalist. But the ABC puts out much more than journalism. There is entertainment, drama, documentary and more.

As well, it is a vast and difficult-to-manage organisation that operates in a highly politicised environment. Not many journalists are known for their management skills, and no one person can possibly hold all the required attributes. The vital thing for an MD is to be able to assemble and work with and through a strong executive team that compensates for any gaps in the top person’s CV.

Having said that, an understanding of content, a vision for the future of public broadcasting and a strong political sense and capability are core attributes. The MD must understand why the journalism the organisation produces is so important, be prepared to defend and promote it as necessary.

The MD job demands both internal and external communication and management skills. It requires both visionary leadership and competent management. If we think through the MDs over time, very few if any excelled at all these. That means we should look at the whole of the executive team and how they work together, not only the MD. The top person necessarily sets the tone, lays down the boundaries of the possible and must be prepared to speak for the organisation and communicate its aims and priorities. There is no escaping the political dimensions of the job.

Mark Day, former media columnist at The Australian 

No. The ABC managing director should be a good manager; a leader who can identify the issues facing the national broadcaster, lay out a plan to meet the challenges of the day, and lead the organisation to meet its charter obligations to the Australian people. That includes upholding the highest standards of journalistic endeavour. Past experience shows us that many good journalists have not excelled as managers while other non-journalists have shown strong leadership qualities that have encouraged strong journalism and enhanced the ABC.

Gerard Henderson, political commentator and executive director, The Sydney Institute

It doesn’t matter whether the managing director of the ABC is a journalist or has a background constructing latrines. The question assumes that the ABC managing director runs the show. Michelle Guthrie does not run the ABC. Nor did her predecessor Mark Scott. Nor does the chairman. Nor does the board.

Rather, the ABC is controlled by a number of self-regarding cliques or collectives — I prefer to term them “soviets” — who control the programs over which they preside and appoint those with whom they feel comfortable.

That’s why the taxpayer-funded public broadcaster is a “conservative free zone” — with not one conservative presenter, producer or editor for any of its prominent television, radio or online outlets. Like appoints like. Since the ABC does not employ conservatives in prominent roles, no conservatives are appointed to prominent roles.

The ABC needs reform. The professional background of any managing director who decides to do this would be of no consequence.