Justin Stevens is adamant he stands up for his journalists. The director of news at the ABC runs through a list of staff he has defended directly or for whom he has authorised statements of support: Patricia Karvelas, Louise Milligan, Lisa Millar, Tony Armstrong, Russell Jackson. He says this is not exhaustive.
“We’re more outspoken in defending our journalists than ABC News management has ever been – and this is necessary because the environment we operate in has never been so relentlessly hostile and agenda-driven,” he tells The Saturday Paper.
“News Corporation is obsessive in its focus on the ABC. Any suggestion we are cowed by News Corporation coverage of the ABC is laughable; we call it out constantly. However, it’s blinkered to say the attacks on our journalists and journalism are just from ‘News Corporation and right-leaning politicians’.
“That mindset reflects the more straightforward external environment of the past, where criticism was less agenda-driven and considerably less vitriolic. These days all media outlets have a commercial incentive to chip away at the trust and respect the audience has for the ABC. It is distressing that as part of that our staff can be subjected to extreme and personal attack from various sources, as well as trolling on social media simply for doing their jobs.”
Stevens is speaking after criticism of his handling of comments made by political correspondent Laura Tingle at the Sydney Writers’ Festival, describing Australia as a racist country. Stevens said the comments lacked “context, balance and supporting information” and that Tingle had been “counselled”.
His statement followed extravagant criticism of Tingle in the Murdoch press. Later, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton told 2GB Tingle had “completely destroyed her credibility, but they’ll keep her on because that’s what happens at the ABC”.
Some at the ABC see Stevens’ response as an example of the public broadcaster’s failure to defend itself against News Corp’s obsessive coverage.
As a longstanding ABC journalist tells The Saturday Paper: “If you can’t protect your most senior people, what message does it send? We are the most trusted brand in the nation, they are the least. Stop taking them seriously.”
A former ABC presenter echoes the sentiment: “I think the ABC has handled it appallingly. If you cave in to bullies, it’s just a sign of weakness and you are heading down a path in which there is no way out.”
Another ABC insider says: “No matter what people think about what Laura said, Stevens’ statement went way too far and was clearly in response to a News Corp pile-on. He did not say that she did breach editorial standards, but that she would have breached them. It was not necessary.”
The ABC source adds: “People think he should have come out more strongly to defend Tingle. He is working in the context of an organisation that is terrified of a News Corp pile-on. He is working in a broken culture and I think the problem is he has not done enough to fix the culture, rather than being individually responsible for it.”
Justin Stevens’ first experience in media was a week of work experience with the Nine newsreader Peter Overton. His father had lined it up for him through Overton’s father – both men worked as doctors at The Children’s Hospital at Westmead.
Later there were unpaid internships in tabloid television: Today Tonight, A Current Affair, Sports Tonight. By 19 he was working at Nine, before moving to the ABC.
Asked about whether he had the experience to lead the ABC’s news coverage, he says: “I’ve worked in daily news and current affairs for 20 years. This includes working on the series Keating: The Interviews and The Killing Season, spending more than two years on the road at Four Corners and being executive producer of 7.30 for four years – and before that many years working on same-day interviews for the program.”
Still, Stevens was an unexpected appointment. Many tipped the role would go to John Lyons, a decorated reporter and then head of current affairs and investigations at the broadcaster.
“When Justin got that role, I don’t think many people thought it was a bad choice, but a lot of people thought, Wow, that’s a big step for him. And then that reflects a very big step from 7.30 to news head – a meteoric rise,” an ABC insider says. “Each step along the way has been a big jump and that lack of experience and confidence is reflected in his managerial style.”
Stevens is a talented producer who helped revamp 7.30 when he took over as executive producer. He has also produced some of the ABC’s most successful series, with journalists such as Sarah Ferguson and Kerry O’Brien.
Some former ABC staff say Stevens’ approach to news could be frustrating, however – he didn’t have “news chops”, as one put it, and seemed to lack an appetite for hard-hitting political and investigative stories.
“He’s a great visual thinker,” a former ABC reporter tells The Saturday Paper. “He understands modern television. He is a TV production guy, which is so different from news. I think the overarching issue is that reporters do not feel backed by him. It’s a culture where people do not feel supported.”
A current ABC journalist says while Stevens holds weekly “town hall” meetings that tend towards the choreographed, he is not an “old-school boss” who you could see in the newsroom talking about stories.
“He is nervous and he is trying, but he does have skills where they really matter, knowing what a good story is and making tough editorial decisions.”
For his part, Stevens says he aspires to be one of the most accessible news directors ever to work at the ABC. This is the purpose of his “town halls” and his travel to different bureaus.
“I care deeply about public interest journalism and the ABC’s role in our democracy,” he says. “I don’t resile from my position that all ABC journalists must adhere to our high and explicit standards, in their day jobs and in any public comments they might make that could directly impact their work and that of their colleagues. Our audience demands no less from us, as does the ABC Charter. The day we step away from that commitment is the day we will begin to lose our standing as the country’s most trusted news organisation. I take that responsibility seriously – and at times that will make me unpopular. But upholding standards is not a popularity contest and we must put the audience first at all times in our thinking.”
Quentin Dempster is a former staff-appointed director at the ABC. He worked as a political and investigative reporter for 30 years and now is director of ABC Alumni.
“I sympathise with Justin Stevens and the ABC’s dilemma in responding to what is now widely acknowledged as yet another Murdoch pile-on,” Dempster tells The Saturday Paper. “In trying to hose down the negative publicity around Tingle’s perfectly defensible writers’ festival remark … Stevens has done what many ABC managers before him have done. By trying to appease the Murdoch attack dogs, they make them even more aggressive.”
Asked about Stevens’ news credentials, Dempster offers: “Managing director David Anderson gave Stevens the news job because of his strong track record as an executive producer. This is his first Murdoch pile-on. Here’s hoping he hardens up.”
He observes that “racially charged anti-migration campaigns with dog whistling are now a worldwide political tactic exploited by constituent politicians to get votes they otherwise would not get”. Tingle, he says, had simply pointed to this. “The Murdochs and their ranters are enraged.”
Dempster urges the ABC’s board to take a stance. “It is incumbent on the ABC board to protect both the institution and its staff. Over to you, Kim Williams and ABC directors. Tingle [the current staff-elected director] should make a personal explanation at the next board meeting and then recuse herself from board discussions on this issue.”
Two years ago, in an interview after he was appointed director of news, Stevens made a comment very similar to Tingle’s. A few months earlier, he had issued an apology to staff who had experienced racism at the broadcaster.
In an interview with The Sydney Morning Herald, Stevens said he would not tolerate racism in the workplace. “It’s everywhere in Australia,” he said. “It’s not confined to the newsroom, it’s in every workplace.”
This week, he told The Saturday Paper: “Given your previous critique of my statement regarding Laura Tingle’s comments at the Sydney Writers’ Festival, I’d like to take this opportunity to state my enormous respect for Laura and her work. I was executive producer of 7.30 when she joined and we worked closely together on the program for four years. I have the utmost professional and personal regard for her and her work. Her journalism for the ABC has been superb and she is a major asset for the organisation.”
This article was first published in the print edition of The Saturday Paper on
June 8, 2024 as “Who is Justin Stevens?”.
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