By Nell Geraets and Karl Quinn
Journalist Stan Grant has quit the ABC to become Asia Pacific director of the Constructive Institute, to be based at Monash University in Melbourne.
Grant, a Wiradjuri man and three-time Walkley Award winner, said the institute – whose headquarters are at Aarhus University in Denmark – was designed to “improve the quality of public discourse, to acknowledge that we don’t do conflict well, and to make media part of the solution rather than the problem”.
Stan Grant has quit the ABC months after stepping away from his role as host of Q+A.Credit: ABC
His departure comes just months after Grant, 59, stepped down as host of Q+A after sustaining a torrent of racial abuse on social media, particularly following his contribution to the ABC’s coverage of the coronation of King Charles III.
“When it [the coronation coverage] all blew up, it made me reflect. I don’t think the media is up to this moment. It made me feel I didn’t want to be in the media anymore. I’m not putting myself above it, I am part of it, I am complicit with it. But it made me pause and made me think I don’t want to be in an environment where conflict frames so much of what should be in the public discourse,” Grant told this masthead on Tuesday.
“I am part of the problem, and I want to be part of the solution.”
Grant confirmed he will direct the Asia-Pacific arm, which is based at Monash University, and will soon embark on a six-week visit to Denmark to develop an understanding of how the institute works.
Its offer came at the perfect time, he said, allowing him to begin the next phase of his career.
“I get to draw on my 40 years of journalism and my academic work, and I hopefully get to make a difference. It’s really exciting to me,” he said.
“Democracy everywhere is suffering because of the way we’ve been driven to take up positions of conflict. It’s destroying our society,” Grant said. “I know this – I was in the crosshairs of it – but I have to ask myself ‘where did I go wrong too, how did I fail, how do I find a way to talk to people who harbour racist attitudes?’.”
ABC news director Justin Stevens announced Grant’s departure in a note to staff on Tuesday, offering his gratitude to the journalist for being a “truth teller”.
“This is a role that clearly aligns with Stan’s desire to lead a conversation in Australian media about how media can foster a more constructive and kinder discourse,” Stevens wrote.
ABC staff rallied in support of Stan Grant after he stepped back from journalism amid the backlash from the broadcaster’s coronation segment.Credit: Edwina Pickles
“We respect Stan’s decision and we hope he will still be a contributor for the ABC in the future from this new role. The ethos behind it aligns with our endeavour to make our journalism more constructive at a time where the media sector is seeing increasing levels of news avoidance and news fatigue.”
Monash’s dean of arts, Professor Katie Stevenson, said students would benefit from Grant’s vast experience within the media and his passion to bring about positive cultural change.
“There is no better person to lead the advocacy for a more solutions-focused, democratic approach to journalism,” Stevenson said.
Throughout his decades-long career, Grant has served as a current affairs and news presenter with Channel 7, CNN, SBS and the ABC. He has also written several books, including 2023’s The Queen Is Dead: Time for a Public Reckoning.
Responding to reports he had just quit the ABC on Tuesday, Grant said he had resigned weeks ago.
“I said to the ABC I don’t want any big statements,” he said. “But it’s the nature of the beast that people will hear about these things.”
Though he is leaving, Grant said he still has positive relationships within the ABC and hopes there will be opportunities to collaborate with the public broadcaster in the future.
“The ABC is precious to me and so are its people,” Grant said in a note to ABC staff. “For now I need to go in a different direction, but I will always consider ABC family.”
Grant’s decision to step away from Q+A in May inspired his ABC colleagues to share their experiences of racism. On May 22, rallies were held across the country in support of Grant, where staff gathered outside the organisation’s Sydney and Melbourne headquarters, holding placards reading “I stand with Stan” and “We reject racism”.
The news of his departure from the ABC comes shortly after Communications Minister Michelle Rowland announced the broadcaster’s chair, Ita Buttrose, would not seek reappointment when her five-year term ends in March.
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