{"id":698454,"date":"2026-05-27T19:19:19","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T19:19:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/698454\/"},"modified":"2026-05-27T19:19:19","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T19:19:19","slug":"justin-stevens-resigns-as-abc-director-of-news-and-current-affairs-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/698454\/","title":{"rendered":"Justin Stevens resigns as ABC director of news and current affairs"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Calum<\/p>\n

Updated May 27, 2026 \u2014 2:40pm,first published 1:54pm<\/p>\n

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The ABC\u2019s most senior news executive, Justin Stevens, has resigned after four years in the job<\/a>, and the search for his replacement is already close to completion.<\/p>\n

Stevens, the former executive producer of flagship current affairs program 7.30 and since 2022 director of news and current affairs, leaves the ABC on Wednesday after overseeing a period of vast change in Australia\u2019s largest newsroom.<\/p>\n

\"JustinJustin Stevens (left) and ABC managing director Hugh Marks at a Senate estimates hearing in December.Alex Ellinghausen<\/p>\n

With just under 2000 staff in the news division, the role is the most scrutinised in the broadcaster outside of managing director Hugh Marks\u2019 own position, overseeing news content published across the public broadcaster\u2019s television, radio and digital platforms.<\/p>\n

The appointment of Stevens\u2019 replacement will be Marks\u2019 biggest decision to date, and is expected to be announced in the coming week, with candidates already interviewed, two sources with knowledge of the matter speaking on condition of anonymity said. The successor is expected to come from outside the organisation. The total package for the role, including superannuation, was $678,000 in the last financial year.<\/p>\n

Informing staff on Wednesday afternoon, Stevens said the decision was both professional and personal. \u201cThere is no more complex news organisation in the country, no more scrutinsed institution, and few so laden with public expectations,\u201d Stevens said.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"ABC<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIn that context, I have sought to strengthen and defend our journalism without being blind to our stumbles; to meet the state of constant change in the digital age; and to improve our culture in News to one where we hold ourselves to the same standards as we do of others in the broader community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stevens, who is leaving the ABC entirely, has not been at work since Thursday last week, the sources said. He has been approached for comment.<\/p>\n

Stevens, who was just 38 when he took the role, has worked under two managing directors and two chairs while in the job, with both eras defined by their vastly different leadership styles and approaches to how the broadcaster should run its news operation.<\/p>\n

His appointment by former managing director David Anderson in April 2022 was viewed at the time as unexpected, as he had never held a senior management position and beat out several more senior candidates.<\/p>\n

Much of his time under Anderson was led by a digital-first strategy, pushing the ABC toward its newer platforms and attracting critique for moving away from the ABC\u2019s core audience on broadcast services like linear television and radio. Under Anderson\u2019s strategy, more than 120 roles were made redundant, including the controversial removal of the ABC\u2019s political editor Andrew Probyn.<\/p>\n

But since Marks\u2019 arrival in early 2025, he has emphasised the ongoing importance of broadcast, with the nightly news bulletin regularly attracting an average audience of 1 million viewers. However, this period coincided with about 50 more job cuts.<\/p>\n

The director of news and current affairs at the ABC is one of the most contentious jobs in Australian media due to the political implications of being publicly funded. Editorial and programming decisions such as the axing of Q+A in 2025 always attract controversy.<\/p>\n

Stevens is the latest in a long line of ABC executives to have left since Anderson\u2019s resignation, including former content chief Chris Oliver-Taylor and head of communications Nick Leys.<\/p>\n

Stevens has created Indigenous and climate reporting teams during his tenure, overhauled the ABC\u2019s news app and brought all news output under one banner.<\/p>\n

He has also overseen the highly charged coverage of the Israeli war in Gaza, which began after the October 7 attacks in 2023, receiving sharp criticism from News Corp outlets over perceived bias.<\/p>\n

But one of the biggest controversies of his tenure was the exit of veteran journalist Stan Grant<\/a>, who left in 2023 following an appearance during the ABC coverage of King Charles\u2019 coronation, in which Grant made reflections on Australia\u2019s colonial past.<\/p>\n

\"VeteranVeteran journalist Stan Grant. <\/p>\n

Grant later said he felt betrayed by the ABC, after he had been invited onto the broadcaster\u2019s coverage but then did not have its public backing over the comments he made.<\/p>\n

The ABC also had to navigate the fallout of the sacking of Antoinette Lattouf<\/a> that same year, though this was not a decision taken by Stevens or the news division. Since Lattouf won her subsequent Federal Court case against the broadcaster, it has implemented new public comment guidelines for its staff.<\/p>\n

The ABC\u2019s digital audience rose by 7 per cent in the 2025 financial year, according to its annual report. The average audience of its nightly news bulletins also increased, as did that of its flagship current affairs program 7.30.<\/p>\n

ABC executives will appear at a scheduled Senate estimates hearing on Thursday.<\/p>\n

The Market Recap newsletter is a wrap of the day\u2019s trading. Get it each weekday afternoon<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\"CalumCalum Jaspan<\/a> is a media writer for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, based in Melbourne. Reach him securely on Signal @calumjaspan.10Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Updated May 27, 2026 \u2014 2:40pm,first published 1:54pm Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":697250,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":["post-698454","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/698454","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=698454"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/698454\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/697250"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=698454"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=698454"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=698454"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}