Q+A with Stan Grant will return to Mondays at 9.35pm next year after struggling to find a consistent audience on Thursday nights.
There has been no announcement but the executive producer of Q+A, Erin Vincent, told the crew about the move on Thursday night after the program went to air.
The change will restore the ABC’s traditional Monday news and current affairs lineup of Australian Story, Four Corners, Media Watch and Q+A.
The scheduling change follows the departure in July of Michael Carrington, the former director of entertainment and specialist, who had responsibility for programming.
It’s always been a source of tension at the ABC that the news division is not in control of the programming schedule.
It’s the third time-slot change in Q+A’s 15-year history. When it started in 2008 the show aired on Thursdays before moving to Mondays two years later. But viewers who were used to 12 years of the same schedule complained loudly when the program was moved back to Thursday nights in 2021, prompted by a desire to give it a shot in prime time.
As audiences for free-to-air television have declined, so too has Q+A’s, but ABC executives say they are committed to the format as the public broadcaster’s core obligation is to generate public engagement.
The confirmation has put to rest speculation that the program might be cancelled.
The 13 October episode had a total TV audience of 352,000. Total TV is an OzTAM measure which includes the live national audience and viewers on iView over one week.
Some episodes have dipped below a metro audience of 200,000 – especially when up against major sports events on the commercial channels.
One of Justin Stevens’ first moves as news director was to appoint Grant in July as the full-time host of the weekly discussion program, a year after Hamish Macdonald quit and was replaced by rotating hosts.
“Looking ahead to next year’s schedule, we want to ensure the program is given its best chance to garner the strongest audience it can,” a spokesperson said. “The Q+A team will continue to explore new ways for the program to best meet evolving audience needs.”
Carrington has not yet been replaced and Jennifer Collins is acting in the role.
More executive roles to be filled at ABC
The director of entertainment and specialist is not the only major role at the ABC that will have to be filled in coming months.
The broadcaster announced this week that Judith Whelan will step into the role of editorial director next year, replacing the veteran broadcaster Craig McMurtrie, who retires in February.
Whelan is the director of regional and local and her role is now also vacant.
Linda Mottram, the host of PM and the podcast This Week, has also announced her retirement after 30 years, which included reporting across the Middle East, Europe, Asia and the Pacific. In an exit interview Mottram hinted she was leaving partly because she wasn’t entirely happy with the direction of the ABC, but didn’t elaborate. “There’s aspects of what the ABC is doing that I have to say I, you know, there are some questions for me about that,” she told PM fill-in host David Lipson.
Press Council let-off for Tim Blair
The Australian Press Council has found that an arguably offensive opinion piece in the Daily Telegraph by the rightwing blogger Tim Blair, which made fun of a climate activist’s suicide, did not breach standards.
Blair has form, after he previously mocked domestic violence leave.
In April Blair wrote “Global Warming Activist Dies from Local Heating”, which commented on a New York Post article concerning the death of David Buckel, 60, who set himself on fire outside the US supreme court.
Among Blair’s comments were: “Let’s hope he used carbon offsets”; “Airlifted? Man, this guy went out in a blaze of fossil fuel glory”; and “He also used fossil fuel because solar would have taken too long”.
The council ruled that “to the extent the article did cause substantial offence or distress, it was justified in the public interest”.
It accepted Blair’s argument that “as part of a democracy a variety of views should be allowed to be expressed, even those that some groups may detest and wish to have censored”.
Blair’s article now carries the note: “The Press Council has decided that this article did not breach its Standards of Practice.”
The press watchdog is so out of favour with many in the industry that last year the journalists’ union gave notice that it will withdraw from the APC over concerns it is ineffectual and too slow to rule on unethical journalism.
Reporter bombarded after Brittany Higgins tweet
A Channel Seven political reporter, Rob Scott, who tweeted about the “trial of Brittany Higgins” and “her rape trial” instead of the trial of Bruce Lehrmann, has apologised after being bombarded with complaints for the framing.
Scott is not the only reporter to make the mistake during the trial, something the public has repeatedly called out.
“My absolute sincere apologies to Ms Higgins – this was an ill phrased tweet,” Scott posted on Twitter six hours after the original tweet – and minutes after Weekly Beast asked Seven News if management approved of the tweet.
“Clearly it is not her on trial it is Bruce Lehrmann. A bad mistake – one she herself pointed out has happened far too many times. Thanks to all who highlighted my error.
My absolute sincere apologies to Ms Higgins - this was an ill phrased tweet. Clearly it is not her on trial it is Bruce Lehrmann. A bad mistake - one she herself pointed out has happen far too many times. Thanks to all who highlighted my error.
— Rob Scott (@Rob7Scott) October 27, 2022
“I have now deleted the original tweet. The correct wording should have been as follows: the trial of Bruce Lehrmann has been aborted due to misconduct by a juror. They brought research material into the jury room contrary to orders from the judge.”
A spokesperson for Seven News declined to comment. Weekly Beast understands Scott was offline and missed the outcry about his original tweets.
Lachlan Murdoch bio to drop; Rupert to WFH
Next week the first major biography of Lachlan Murdoch, by the journalist Paddy Manning, will be published by Black Inc Books, several months before the defamation trial which will see the 50-year-old defend his reputation over an article published by Crikey.
In The Successor: The High-Stakes Life of Lachlan Murdoch, Manning asks whether Lachlan is “a risk-loving adventurer or dutiful son”, an “ultra-conservative ideologue or thoughtful libertarian”, and addresses the topic of succession planning within the powerful media family.
We wondered if succession was edging closer after news this week that at 91, Rupert Murdoch had given up his office in New York and was working from home on his ranch in Montana.
The Australian Financial Review reported that Rupert signed a telecommuting agreement with News Corp back in July.
“You will be required to maintain a home office as a condition of employment with the Company,” the agreement says. “When visiting any of the Company’s offices after the effective date of this Telecommuting Agreement, a visiting employee workspace and/or a shared conference room will be provided for your use during such visit.
“The Company authorizes you to take in-person meetings and appointments at your home office in the State of Montana. The Company also may hold Board meetings from time to time in Montana.
“You will be required to attend meetings remotely, as needed in the performance of your job, and to perform other of your core duties at your home office.”
More ammunition for ABC pay rise
It was a case of bad timing when the ABC annual report and the federal budget landed in the midst of tense pay negotiations at the ABC between management and the two unions, the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance and the Community and Public Sector Union.
ABC staff agreed in principle on Thursday to take protected action if management did not improve its offer of a 3% increase. Employees were riled up after what they said were “whopping increases to management pay on top of already exorbitant salaries”.
“ABC management took home massive cash bonuses last year and has now placed an unfair enterprise agreement offer on the table that doesn’t listen to any of your concerns and would mean a real wage cut – that’s not fair and it’s time you told management how you feel,” the alliance told its members.
Union posters all over the ABC make the most of the pay increases listed in the annual report – “5.2% for Judith Whelan, 5.2% increase for Ita Buttrose” but just 3% for staff – and 850 hand-written messages were delivered to management.
Tuesday’s budget gave staff more ammunition too, as Labor has restored the indexation pause imposed by the Coalition, which amounted to a cut of $83.7m over four years. Staff say Aunty can now afford a bigger pay rise.
