‘Gobsmacked’: Political editor Andrew Probyn among ABC redundancies

The ABC’s Andrew Probyn said he struggled to understand the direction of the national broadcaster as it made his political editor role redundant, along with up to 120 other roles as it prepares for its digital future.

Confirming his departure, the two-time Press Gallery Journalist of the Year said he was “gobsmacked” by the decision.

Andrew Probyn: “I struggle to understand the direction the ABC is going.”Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

“Only the political editor at the ABC would understand the scrutiny that comes with this role,” he said.

“It has been a tremendous privilege and I have worked with some wonderful people.

“I struggle to understand the direction the ABC is going in that it could consider the role of political editor not needed.”

The Daily Telegraph front page in August 2018 regarding Probyn.

While the ABC’s political coverage often faces intense public criticism, Probyn said the broadcaster had handled scrutiny “admirably” in the past.

ABC managing director David Anderson justified the changes to staff in an email on Thursday as necessary for the broadcaster’s future, “but regardless of this I understand change can be challenging, particularly for those directly impacted”.

Like other Australian and overseas media companies, Anderson said the ABC was operating in an “environment exposed to inflationary pressures”, and had to boost its investment in its digital transformation to meet the needs of its audiences.

“The decisions we make now are necessary for the longer term,” he said. “The reinvestment and the transition to digital-first will mean new roles and new skills are required across our workforce.”

The cuts come after Anderson outlined the broadcaster’s new five-year plan last week, emphasising a shift away from traditional channels and moving from three to two key divisions, news and content.

Part of the changes revealed on Thursday include the launch of a “Current Affairs Digital Transformation Project”, which Anderson said would ensure “some of the ABC’s best investigative programs have the capability to meet audience demand for long-form on-demand video and in-depth digital content”.

As well as continuing to shift its news operations team from a linear-led team towards on-demand digital content, Anderson said the ABC was streamlining its editor structure by “reducing the number of ABC executives involved in the commissioning and production process”, in turn freeing up funds for investment in “high-quality distinctive Australian content”.

A new national bulletin, ABC News Sunday, combining domestic and international stories, will replace local and state bulletins, while setting up a new climate, environment and energy reporting team. The broadcaster’s standalone arts team has been axed for the first time in its history, with its digital arts editor made redundant and the rest of the team distributed across the newsroom.

An internal proposal to cut the role of political editor, obtained by this masthead, said the ABC’s Canberra Parliament House bureau had an “outdated, top-heavy structure still largely focused on linear television broadcast”.

It justified the decision as promoting an opportunity to transform the broadcaster’s political coverage, attracting a new, younger audience that increasingly seeks news from other, non-traditional platforms.

An internal document on the decision to cut the ABC’s political editor role.

“By 2028, the ABC will serve more Australians on the platform of their choice with made-for-digital content and journalism on ABC News, ABC iview, ABC Listen and on major third-party platforms,” Anderson said alongside last week’s five-year plan.

“As Australia changes, so must the ABC,” he said, while stopping short of confirming plans to wind down its broadcast channels fully, as its British counterpart the BBC has signalled.

Last month, the ABC agreed to an 11 per cent pay rise for staff over the next three years, which followed soon after Treasurer Jim Chalmers promised $6 billion to the ABC over the next five years which the ABC said, “provides financial stability and allows the ABC to continue delivering on its charter.”

Local radio is expected to have avoided any impact, despite its ongoing review into its capital city and regional stations.

A senior journalist who asked not to be named, said: “We know what ‘restructure’ means and involves, but we’re deflated by more cuts to editorial staff.”

The Media Entertainment and Arts alliance said the restructure had been “poorly communicated by ABC management, which has caused days of anxiety and anguish for ABC employees”.

“The ABC has been running on empty for the past decade, and we are concerned about how it can continue to deliver quality public interest journalism with even fewer staff following these proposed redundancies,” MEAA media director Cassie Derrick said.

“The recent enterprise bargaining agreement was a chance for ABC management to reset its relationship with the workforce. It hasn’t got off to a good start.”

Anderson first told ABC managers of his plan to rewire the broadcaster in November last year, in order to improve its processes around the commissioning and delivery of content to audiences, further focus on its digital platforms and to combine its regional and metro news teams under one roof.

Experienced TV executive Chris Oliver-Taylor was recently hired as the ABC’s first chief content officer.Credit: Fremantle

Chris Oliver-Taylor was later hired from Netflix as its first chief content officer, reporting to Anderson and heading up its new content division, which combines the entertainment and specialist, and regional and local divisions. Justin Stevens will continue to lead the news division.

The ABC initially hoped to restructure by April but a delay in appointing Oliver-Taylor pushed it back to July 1.

The shift is the biggest structural change to the ABC since 2017, when former managing director Michelle Guthrie reorganised the broadcaster into three teams focused on topics: news, analysis and investigations; entertainment and specialist; and, regional and local.

Anderson was head of entertainment and specialist when the structure was changed.

Budget papers show it has an average staff of 4213 full-time equivalent positions.

Meanwhile, the ABC’s NSW state political reporter, Ashleigh Raper, has been appointed as Network 10’s network political editor, replacing Peter van Onselen.

Van Onselen is currently being sued by the Ten Network for an alleged breach of contract after he wrote a scathing column on its business prospects and management.

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