ABC star Patricia Karvelas issues scathing message to her critics as she takes up big new role: ‘I will not be intimidated’

ABC star Patricia Karvelas has hit back at her critics following the news that she will take over as host of Q+A.

Karvelas revealed on Monday that she would take on the top job after a tumultuous year for the program that saw Stan Grant resign and a dip in viewership.

Australian media writer Sophie Elsworth published an article on the same day attempting to criticize Karvelas and her role as presenter on Radio National Breakfast.

She claimed the station had lost 34 percent of its listeners after 17-year-old mainstay Fran Kelly was replaced by Karvelas.

Elsworth continued her attack on Sky News, claiming the ABC failed to cater to 'the general punters', leaving the 'audience in freefall'.

Karvelas took to Instagram soon after and accused News Corp of publishing a “hit piece” against her due to an “ideological obsession with the ABC.”

“Another Murdoch hit on me,” she wrote.

'It's so common now that I can set my alarm for it. There are so many important stories in this country, but that's not their business model.”

'I used to believe that ignoring it was the best strategy, but I increasingly believe that calling it out is the only option. I have watched them target my friends and colleagues for years. Now it's my turn to target.

“I was raised with strong integrity values ​​and the fact that they so easily target even those who have done their very best for them shows that their ideological obsession with the ABC is not about me or anyone else. It's a worldview.'

Karvelas joined The Australian in 2002 as a cadet reporter and became one of their most senior journalists. She eventually landed her own show on Sky News from 2016 to 2017, while also working at the ABC from 2015.

In a final speech, Karvelas posted that “journalism really matters” and is “under existential threat.”

“Public broadcasting has never been more important,” she wrote.

“Women who do not follow the rules will continue to be targeted, but I will not be intimidated by people who have such a clear agenda.”

Elsworth appeared on Chris Kenny's program and said accusing her of grinding an ideological ax or attacking Karvelas because she was a woman was “all nonsense.”

Elsworth said she was merely “reporting the facts” about Radio National's dwindling audience.

“I think she (Karvelas) should be focusing on the ratings and how they're dropping, rather than the story itself, but I've clearly struck a nerve,” Elsworth said.

She said the national broadcaster was failing to “connect with the punters” and was “letting down their viewers, their readers and their listeners”.

“They have to do something about it,” Elsworth said.

“I argue that this is a story of national importance. We pay for Radio Nationaal and their viewing figures are in free fall.'

Elsworth accused the ABC of announcing Karvelas as question and answer presenter for next year, which she said was 'not news', to bury the story about falling radio ratings.

Elsworth responded to Kenny's claim that Karvelas was “a shocking lefty” by saying that Q+A was full of left-wing panelists and that was why the ratings were low.

'How can you take it (Q+A) seriously?' she asked.

'It's just like The Drum. You have a whole panel there that agrees with each other, and one symbolically conservative.

“They should have a range of views, but they don't, that's why The Drum is gone. Q&A will be next on the chopping block.

'Once they get rid of The Drum. I'm not sure why they did Q+A.”

The Drum, a weekday evening show where two or three guests discussed important issues, was axed last week.

In an email to staff, ABC News CEO Justin Stevens said canceling the show next year was part of that a broader restructuring initiative, including disbanding a programming team at ABC News Channel and eliminating one leadership position.

However, he acknowledged that the show, which was alternately hosted by Julia Baird and Ellen Fanning, had been “relatively small and declining” in viewership in recent years.

Kenny said he knew Karvelas “quite well” through his work at The Australian and Sky News and thought she had made the transition to radio fairly well, but for “whatever reason” it didn't work out.

“No, Patricia, this is just the gist of the media, these are people reporting on your role as a media presenter,” he said.

Elsworth also claimed that popular newsreader and reporter Karina Carvalho was pushed to leave the ABC because she was unhappy with its political direction.

“Sources close to her have told me that she is concerned about the way the ABC is going and the activism taking place within it, and that she has seen the light and she is out of there,” Elsworth said.

However, Elsworth noted that Carvalho had spoken only very positively about the ABC when announcing her shock resignation.

Kenny called Carvalho's departure a loss for the national broadcaster.

“You wouldn't know her politics, you wouldn't have a clue what her politics are and that's how it should be for everyone at the ABC,” he said.

After Stan Grant left Q+A in July, claiming that ABC management had failed to support him against racist comments, the show was often co-hosted by Virginia Trioli and Karvelas, although the latter became the more frequent host by the end of the year.

Trioli announced she would be quitting as host of local radio breakfast show ABC Melbourne, which was also struggling in the ratings, to present a new prime time arts show on the broadcaster.