Renowned Wiradjuri journalist and academic Stan Grant has officially quit the ABC, ending a storied decades-long career as a journalist.
The news was accompanied by the announcement that the Wiradjuri man will take up a position with Monash University, as the inaugural director of their Constructive Institute Asia Pacific.
The centre, whose headquarters are located at Aarhus University in Denmark, is a global institute dedicated to changing news culture, rebuilding journalist integrity and encouraging the development of healthy democracies.
According to the announcement, Grant will steer the centre’s mission in the Asia Pacific region, adding this to his established academic career as the Vice Chancellor’s Chair of Australian-Indigenous Belonging at Charles Sturt University.
Grant called the appointment an “exciting opportunity” for him.
“It aligns with my values and draws on my 40 years in journalism, as well as my commitment to doing public interest journalism better in a way that serves the public at a time when the stakes couldn’t be higher for our country and for the world,” he said.
Monash University’s Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Professor Katie Stevenson said there is “no better person” to lead the centre’s advocacy.
“Beyond the Institute’s mission, our media students will have the privilege of drawing upon Stan’s rich experience and knowledge of media, and his passion to change news culture for the better,” she said.
Grant’s career, which spans forty years, includes three Walkley awards and high-profile roles within newsrooms at CNN, NITV/SBS, ABC and Channel 7.
Grant’s exit from Q&A
The appointment comes after a treacherous period for Grant, who stood down from and later quit hosting duties of the ABC’s Q&A program.
Grant, who announced his leave in May via a column, said he received backlash and online racial vilification after appearing on the ABC’s Coronation coverage.
While appearing on the hour-long program titled: ‘The Coronation: A Discussion about the Monarchy in 2023’, Grant said the crown represented invasion, dispossession, the removal of children and massacres.
The things written about him after the program were “hate-filled”, he wrote in the column.
He also wrote that no ABC producers or executives had refuted what was written about him. He described it as an “institutional failure”.
Soon after, hundreds of staff at ABC Sydney staged a walk-out in solidarity.
