ABC staff have called for their chairman Justin Milne to stand aside after it was reported that Milne had pressured former managing director Michelle Guthrie to sack ABC chief economics correspondent Emma Alberici.
Big turnout for ABC staff meeting, with employees concerned about the potential for political interference in our journalism, following today’s media reports https://t.co/PtyTelPF5g
Around lunchtime on Wednesday ABC staff in Sydney met to unanimously pass a motion calling for an independent inquiry, and for Milne to step aside from his role until the inquiry had been concluded.
Fairfax reported on Wednesday morning that information about emails between Milne and Guthrie had been conveyed to it by a source close to the board. In the emails, Milne is said to have written that the government "hate" Alberici.
"I think it's simple," Milne allegedly wrote. "Get rid of her. We need to save the ABC — not Emma. There is no guarantee [the Coalition] will lose the next election."
While this is a very serious affair, with plenty of unanswered questions hanging in the air, it hasn't stopped people from having a bit of a laugh.
personally I would bring back the Ferals
Hey guys long time no tweet! So what’s going on? Anything interesting happening, or....?
girls love it when your position is untenable
To the ABC staff,
UPDATE: this joke is now "this one weird trick to be forced out as chairman of the ABC" https://t.co/2z01mGmOy5
Also, the journalists' union was forced to move its meeting from the ABC foyer due to a scheduling conflict with a ... bunch of puppies. That's not a joke.
#BREAKING: These are the puppies that forced the MEAA to move the meeting from the ABC foyer #HandsOffOurABC