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Veteran journalist Stan Grant will be leaving the ABC for a new opportunity with Monash University following his departure as host of Q+A after being the subject of online abuse.
- Stan Grant has been appointed as a professor in the university's school of journalism
- The ABC said it supports his decision and hopes he will still be a contributor
- Grant said he is excited for the opportunity which aligns with his views and experience
Grant will become the Asia-Pacific director of the Denmark-based Constructive Institute which operates in conjunction with the university.
The ABC's director of News, Analysis and Investigations, Justin Stevens, made the announcement saying this role "clearly aligns with Stan's desire to lead a conversation in Australian media about how media can foster a more constructive and kinder discourse".
Grant hosted his last segment of Q+A in May and stepped down as presenter last month with the intention to move on to new projects with the ABC.
It came after Grant said he was subjected to intense abuse on social media following his guest appearance on the ABC's coverage of the King Charles's coronation.
He accused the ABC of "institutional failure" and wrote about being the subject of "relentless racial filth".
ABC managing director David Anderson made an apology and announced a review into the broadcaster's response to racism.
Stevens said the ABC respects his decision and hopes "he will still be a contributor for the ABC in the future from this new role".
"The ethos behind it aligns with our endeavour to make our journalism more constructive at a time where the media sector is seeing increasing levels of news avoidance and news fatigue," he said.
Grant said the ABC and its people are "precious" to him.
"For now I need to go in a different direction but I will always consider ABC family. I look forward to working with you all again some time."
He said his new role as the inaugural director is an "incredibly exciting opportunity".
"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 in the university's media release.
His appointment as a professor in the university's school of media and journalism is part of a "wider agenda" to tackle "misinformation and disinformation in a radically transformed media environment".
"The sheer depth and breadth of Stan's career across commercial and public broadcasting means he is well placed to reflect on forms of journalism that can both inform and restore trust," Head of School Associate Professor Shane Homan said.
Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Professor Katie Stevenson added "there is no better person to lead the advocacy for a more solutions-focused, democratic approach to journalism".