David Anderson (media executive)
[3] In a 2018 interview, Anderson said his mother had struggled with mental illness and that his stepfather, who established a spring water business, "turned out not to be a very nice man".
[3] Initially his duties included changing dirty tea towels for clean ones in all the kitchenettes located throughout the multi-storey building.
[3] From there, Anderson began to rise through the ranks at the ABC doing various jobs including sorting the mail and working on the switchboard where he fielded complaints and general enquiries from listeners and viewers.
[10] Despite Anderson's apology, the Australian Communications and Media Authority cleared the ABC of any wrongdoing in August 2018 as they considered the word had been used for comedic reasons rather than a genuine personal attack.
[12] Anderson later told a Senate Estimates committee that it was his decision to axe Tonightly due to the production costs involved.
[17] He publicly supported ABC journalists Dan Oakes and Sam Clark when their 2017 coverage of the alleged unlawful killings of unarmed men and children in Afghanistan by Australian soldiers prompted a raid on the ABC's Sydney offices by the Australian Federal Police in June 2019.
[21] In October 2019, Anderson admitted that he understood why viewers found an episode of Q+A "confronting" or "offensive" and confirmed the ABC would investigate whether the program met the organisation's editorial standards.
[22] The organisation resolved 235 complaints which were lodged with the ABC regarding the Q+A episode which was hosted by Fran Kelly and broadcast on 4 November 2019 as part of The Wheeler Centre's feminist ideas festival Broadside.
[3] In June 2021, he delayed the airing of a Four Corners story by Louise Milligan which explored an alleged link between QAnon and Australian prime minister Scott Morrison.
[32] In March 2021, ABC News achieved an equal representation of male and female interviewees and commentators for the first time since joining the BBC's 50:50 project.
[36] Another change Anderson flagged early in his tenure as managing director was the introduction of personalised ABC iview accounts, which required viewers to register their personal details which would enable them to sign-in to the platform.
[40][41][42] Following controversial tweets by Laura Tingle, Louise Milligan, Alan Kohler and Julia Zemiro, Anderson revealed in 2022 there had been four instances where employees had been disciplined after their conduct breached the corporation's social media policy.
[44] As managing director, Anderson has also had to address two high-profile defamation cases which were separately brought against the ABC by politicians Christian Porter and Andrew Laming.
[49] In 2019, Anderson had been one of 60 ABC employees to ride on the first float the organisation had ever entered in the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade.
[53] As managing director, Anderson regularly attends Senate Estimates hearings at Parliament House in Canberra where he is questioned over the various operations of the ABC.
[56] In January 2024, Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance members from the ABC voted in favour of a no confidence motion against Anderson after reported alleged interference from pro-Israel lobbyists.
It was alleged was that Anderson was cowardly and illegally involved in the dismissal of Antoinette Lattouf in December 2023, after she posted material to social media about the Israel-Gaza war.
