ABC director of news Gaven Morris.Credit:Dominic Lorrimer
The sources said Mr Morris disparaged"inner city left-wing elites"numerous times,telling staff he would be"happier if we spent less time on the concerns of the inner city elites and more time on the things that matter to central Queensland".
Mr Morris toldThe Sun-Herald andThe Sunday Age his remarks referred to the public's perception of the ABC and it was wrong for anyone to infer that he was suggesting government funding could be under threat if news coverage did not change.
"It's a value proposition back to taxpayers,back to Australians,"he said."If there is a perception in the community that we are more interested in the concerns and lives of inner city elites,then we need to work harder to make sure we are as relevant to people in central Queensland as we are to people in inner Sydney."
The broadcaster has made no secret it is focused on growing its audience in the outer suburbs and regions,which is an explicit goal of the news division's editorial strategy"More Relevant to More Australians".
But the ABC staff who spoke toThe Sun-Herald andThe Sunday Age were concerned about how"harshly"Mr Morris articulated those priorities during the briefings,as well as the explicit link they felt he made between editorial content and the broadcaster's funding.
"The idea we would shape coverage to please our masters is very worrying,"one person said.
Some of the sources agreed it was desirable to broaden the ABC's output but said this should be done when warranted by news value,not to change public perception or please the government. They complained Mr Morris'remarks were reminiscent of critiques of the ABC routinely made on Sky News"after dark"or in the editorial pages ofThe Australian.