Big shoes to fill: Who will take over the 7.30 chair from Leigh Sales?

Hosting the ABC’s nightly current affairs show 7.30 is arguably the highest-profile job in Australian journalism, but it’s also one of the most demanding and scrutinised. This is why the decision on who will replace Leigh Sales when she departs after the federal election won’t be a rushed one.

Right now, in fact, the ABC doesn’t even have the key decision-maker in place.

Former news and current affairs director Gaven Morris left the job on December 3. Applications for the role closed last month, and Gavin Fang is currently acting news director. But an insider says management “won’t seriously start thinking about [Sales’ replacement] until the new news director is in”, adding that there is no sign such an appointment is imminent.

The great contenders: Leigh Sales, centre, with (clockwise from top left) Stan Grant, Waleed Aly, Laura Tingle, Hamish Macdonald, David Speers and Patricia Karvelas. Credit: The Age

That means the would-be hosts of 7.30, which Sales announced on Thursday night she was leaving after 12 years, will have a little time to weigh up the pros and cons of the job.

On the plus side, you get to show your chops four nights a week going head-to-head with leading political and business figures, trying to extract straight answers from the endless cycle of spin. Occasionally, you get to chat with the famous, the fabulous, the funny. More often you get to present investigative pieces or human interest stories with broader social ramifications.

“The anchor of 7.30 needs to be across a wide range of issues four nights a week and needs to be versatile, ranging from celebrity interviews to interviewing ordinary people to interviewing politicians who have clearly become experts in the art of avoiding questions and offering up obfuscation,” Matthew Ricketson, professor of communication at Deakin University, says.

On the downside, you are subjected to scrutiny, abuse, allegations of bias by both sides of politics. If you’re on social media – and, really, it goes with the territory – you can add a dash of nasty personal abuse. If you’re a woman, you’ll almost certainly cop vile sexual innuendo and unspeakable threats.

“I am constantly disheartened when I see Sales ridiculed on Twitter for just doing her job,” says Andrea Baker, senior lecturer in journalism at Monash University. “Research has shown that women are often abused, belittled, delegitimised online, more than men. It’s just not right, it’s unhealthy.”

Hosting 7.30 is, according to Jonathan Holmes, former host of Media Watch and now chairman of ABC Alumni, “probably the toughest, most highly scrutinised and most important job in the Australian media”.

The presenter is the face of the program, he adds, but they do not have as much power over its content or direction as viewers might imagine.

“She or he has very little say in story selection or the research, shooting and editing of stories – that is the province of the executive producer and daily producers and reporters. But, as principal interviewer, the presenter sets the tone, and has the very difficult job of interviewing highly experienced politicians who know that they only need to flannel for seven minutes.

“Getting them to answer the tough questions without excessive interruptions and perceived rudeness is a skill of the highest order,” Holmes adds, “and one that in my view Leigh Sales had in spades.”

The ABC claims the program averages 980,000 viewers per episode, across metro, regional, encore and iView audiences.

“It’s a vital program for Australia because it’s national, it shapes the national agenda,” Alexandra Wake, journalism programs manager at RMIT, says. “There are other current affairs programs, but they don’t focus on politics in the same way. It has the ability to set the agenda in a way others don’t.”

Laura Tingle, a regular on the show and recent fill-in host, is considered a frontrunner to replace Sales.Credit: ABC

But recently, the downside of being so focused on national politics became abundantly evident. “During the pandemic, we have badly missed the weekly state-based versions of 7.30 (previously called Stateline) because the national program cannot hold premiers, who have wielded unprecedented power in the last two years, properly to account,” says Holmes.

During Victoria’s lengthy lockdowns, Sales was accused of giving Premier Daniel Andrews a particularly hard time. Conversely, when NSW went into lockdown she was accused of sparing then-Premier Gladys Berejiklian the same sort of treatment.

“I don’t for a moment think Leigh Sales is a closet Liberal,” observes Alexandra Wake. “But I do think her location in Sydney was problematic during the pandemic. Victorians in particular felt her response to the political leaders during the pandemic was unfair. Queenslanders also felt this. I don’t think it was political bias as such, more locational bias.”

Clearly, a thick skin is going to be important for whoever wants to get their hands on this (slightly poisoned) chalice. Luckily, plenty of journalists develop – or learn to fake – a thick hide over years in the job.

So, who are the contenders?

For many, Laura Tingle, a regular on the show and fill-in host, leads the pack. Baker thinks “she did a fantastic job as fill-in anchor”, but Wake feels she’s not “completely adapted to broadcast yet”. Tingle has downplayed speculation, saying “my day job is funner”, but she must be considered a serious chance.

The ABC has an abundance of internal candidates, including Stan Grant (“an obvious choice if he’s up for it,” says Holmes), David Speers (“if the ABC can cop an Anglo male in the job” – Holmes again), Virginia Trioli, Sabra Lane and Sally Sara.

Patricia Karvelas would also be a contender were it not for the fact that she has only recently started as morning host on Radio National; solving one problem by creating another is no solution at all.

Looking to rival networks, Ten’s Waleed Aly, Hamish Macdonald and Lisa Wilkinson (all on The Project) all have at least some of the attributes the host might need, though it’s questionable if the ABC could afford them even if they were to be tempted.

Chris Uhlmann, a former co-host of the program and now chief political editor at Nine, owner of this masthead, has flagged his plan to retire after the federal election. In the unlikely event that he were to be offered the job, he says he would turn it down. “That ship has sailed,” he says. “I almost helped sink it for a while, but gladly it recovered.”

Insiders host David Speers could be a contender.Credit: Justin McManus

Tania Lee, lecturer in the Centre for Advancing Journalism at Melbourne University and a digital content editor at SBS Chinese, would love to see a bolder choice, nominating Shalailah Medhora, political reporter for Triple J’s The Hack. “She was the first woman of colour to be invited on Insiders in 10 years,” says Lee. “I think being young, a woman, Indian, from a migrant family were all initial setbacks, but she’s really made Australian politics her beat.”

Whoever it is, being apolitical is neither necessary nor particularly feasible, says Ricketson.

“Unless a journalist is an automaton, they will have their own views and beliefs shaped by their personal experiences.

“The discipline of good journalism is to be able to report and analyse on any issue fairly and fearlessly. Asking your heroes the same hard questions you ask your villains is one way to crystallise this discipline,” he says.

“In my view, Sales has done a good job in one of the hardest jobs in the media.”

Email the author at [e-mail], or follow him on Facebook at karlquinnjournalist and on Twitter @karlkwin

Find out the next TV, streaming series and movies to add to your must-sees. Get The Watchlist delivered every Thursday.