New News: Michelle Guthrie: 2016 Keynote

Presenting a keynote address at New News 2016, hear from new ABC Managing Director Michelle Guthrie about digital disruption and the role of the ABC in Australian democracy. What vision does she put forward for the national broadcaster? 

Spoiler alert: it includes diversity, dexterity, collaboration … and new digital initiatives including a Facebook Messenger-driven news bot and the creation of an Indigenous Affairs reporting unit, headed by editor Stan Grant. Her keynote address is followed by an animated Q&A, hosted by journalist and Centre for Advancing Journalism Director Margaret Simons.

When she took over as the ABC’s Managing Director in May 2016, Michelle Guthrie brought decades of experience in broadcast and digital media – including senior positions as a corporate lawyer in Rupert Murdoch’s News empire (BSkyB, Star TV) before moving across to Google’s Asia Pacific branch, after first starting out as a media and technology lawyer in Sydney and Singapore.

Since her appointment she has talked about ABC content being made available on multiple platforms – not all of them controlled by the ABC. She has talked about increasing the ABC’s reach and diversity, joking that at the moment it has captured hearts and minds in every in pre-school and aged-care centre. Her challenge? To steward the ABC’s relevance and assure its place in a rapidly changing and increasingly global media market.

New News is presented in partnership with the Wheeler Centre and the Centre for Advancing Journalism at the University of Melbourne.