ABC axes flagship roles for digital

The ABC will slash original reporting conducted by some of its leading current affairs programs and axe about 70 ­positions.

ABC Managing Director David Anderson. Picture: John Feder

The ABC will slash the amount of original reporting conducted by some of its leading current affairs programs and axe about 70 ­positions across its news divisions as it shifts its focus from tradi­t­ional broadcasts to its digital platforms and on-demand services.

Editorial staff have been warned that no shows will be immune to sweeping changes being ushered in by management as part of its five-year plan.

The ABC’s chief economics correspondent position, currently held by Emma Alberici, is expected to be among a number of prominent casualties under the network-wide overhaul.

In an internal email obtained by The Australian, ABC News directo­r Gaven Morris blamed the cuts on “the federal government’s indexation budget reduction’’, which meant “in real terms the ABC’s operational funding will be more than 10 per cent lower in 2021-22 than it was in 2013”.

“We’ve been very open in stating that covering this latest cut while making sure we can still invest to meet our strategic goals would make reductions in services as well as jobs inevitable,” Morris told editorial staff in the email.

“We’re also proposing to make reductions in management and administration roles and will be contributing to reduced travel and spending across the ABC.”

The shrinking budgets would have an almost immediate impact on two of the network’s popular mainstay programs, which would be forced to reduce their output.

“We propose making small reductions in the number of original episodes of Australian Story and Foreign Correspondent to protect the quality of this prestige programming while recognising we have lower funding,” Morris said.

While the announcement confirmed longstanding industry speculation that the programs had been facing significant cuts, Morris stressed they were not alone.

“All current affairs teams would contribute to the required savings, including some proposed changes to roles in the Investi­gative Reporting Team … and 7.30,” Morris said.

“The News Channel has already reviewed and consolid­ated its late-night news line-up … and we’re proposing staff changes reflecting that reduced output.

“As they stand now, we anticipate the proposals would result in the loss of around 70 jobs.

“Everyone who is potentially directly impacted by these ­changes has already been notified.

“We’re going to be losing talented and hardworking people.”

In a separate email circulated shortly before 5pm, Alberici’s high-profile econo­mics role was among those management “proposed” would be “lost” amid cuts to the news analysis and investigations teams, along with two business reporter positions.

The ABC said it could not comment on individuals and Alberici could not be reached for comment on Wednesday night.

Morris told staff the business and specialist teams were being overhauled “to reduce broadcast-only roles and add onlin­e and video production capacity”.

He said the five-year plan had been devised after in-depth analysis of the audience revealed a mass migration to its digital products, while a major drop in audience share for its flagship 7.45am radio news bulletin had predicated a ­decision to scrap the broadcast.

“While it’s a familiar component of our service, its audience has fallen more than 20 per cent in four years, at a faster rate than Local Radio audiences,” he said.

“Our broadcast audiences are precious to us and we’re not discontinuing any of our current affair­s programs. But we want to put them on a more sustainable fin­ancial footing while making sure all our programs and stories … can be relevant to all listeners.”