Popular ABC News star Andrew Probyn said he was left ‘gobsmacked’ after being told he was losing his job as part of sweeping staff cutbacks.
The political editor, who joined the ABC in 2016, was told his position is no longer required by the national broadcaster.
The ABC will reportedly announce that as many as 100 jobs will be axed, before the restructure of the national broadcaster begins on July 1.
Probyn said he was stunned to learn his role, which he says comes with intense scrutiny, is being axed.
‘I struggle to understand the direction the ABC is going in that it could consider the role of political editor not needed,’ he told the Australian Financial Review.
ABC news editor Andrew Probyn said he was ‘gobsmacked’ to learn his position would be abolished.
‘It has been a tremendous privilege and I have worked with some wonderful people.’
Mr Probyn’s reaction was restrained compared to his journalistic colleague Peter van Onselen, who resigned as Channel 10’s political editor in March but still contributes to The Australian newspaper.
‘The ABC says it doesn’t need a political editor so it’s making the role redundant? What an utter f***ing embarrassment for a national broadcaster,’ Dr van Onselen tweeted shortly after the news broke.
However, when asked if he wanted the position Dr van Onselen was quick to decline.
‘I can assure you I have no interest in returning to daily news!’ he tweeted.
ABC managing director David Anderson is expected to make an announcement about the job cuts before the end of the financial year on June 30, the Guardian Australia reported.
Former Channel 10 political editor Peter van Onselen called the ABC’s decision to get rid of Andrew Probyn ‘an utter f***ing embarrassment’ for the national broadcaster
Dr van Onselen did not hold back in a tweet sent shortly after the announcement the ABC was axing the political editor position
Mr Anderson released the ABC’s new five-year plan last Friday, which detailed the major shake-up flagged earlier in the year to focus on a digital-first operation.
‘Over the next five years, the ABC will undergo a significant transition from maintaining both traditional broadcast and digital processes, towards becoming an integrated digital operation,’ he said.
‘While broadcast will remain important, this five-year plan is a first step to build an ABC that is prepared for a digital-majority audience.
‘The ABC will enhance its primary digital products, ABC News, ABC iview and ABC listen, to provide a seamless, personalised service that enables audiences to more easily discover content that is relevant to them.’
Under the changes, the current separate regional and radio divisions will be abolished.
Regional journalists will be transferred to the news division, while radio networks will join television in the content division.
Former Netflix executive Chris Oliver-Taylor was recently appointed to head content and will be responsible for all screen, audio and digital content.
News programming will be managed by the news director, Justin Stevens.
Mr Anderson had forecast job cuts across the board, but said it would not impact the quality of the ABC product.
‘This in no ways diminishes the importance of what we do, as many of Australia’s favourite podcasts and radio programs today are presented by the ABC,’ Mr Anderson told employees when announcing the changes in May.
Journalist union the Media Entertainment and Arts alliance disagreed.
‘The ABC has been running on empty for the past decade and we are concerned about how it can continue to deliver quality public interest journalism with even fewer staff following these proposed redundancies,’ MEAA media director Cassie Derrick said.
The federal government announced $6billion funding for the ABC in the May budget, spread over five years.
