The ABC is reeling after the shock firing of managing director Michelle Guthrie on Monday triggered a damaging chain of events that forced the resignation of chairman Justin Milne three days later. ABC staff-elected director Jane Connors is under pressure. Credit:ABC The board is now under pressure to explain why it did not act swiftly to address detailed evidence of editorial interference by Mr Milne, who had repeatedly asked for high-profile presenters Andrew Probyn and Emma Alberici to be fired because the government did not like them and he feared it could jeopardise funding. The claims were made in an explosive 11-page letter Ms Guthrie gave the board in the days before they terminated her $900,000-a-year contract. The letter also shows the new acting ABC chairwoman Kirstin Ferguson knew months ago of Ms Guthrie’s “huge frustration” with Mr Milne’s interventions. Former Victorian Liberal premier Jeff Kennett called for Dr Ferguson to resign on Saturday, while federal Labor frontbencher Pat Conroy said the whole board should stand down.

Mr Milne's demands to "shoot" political editor Probyn and "get rid of" chief economics correspondent Alberici were splashed across major newspapers on Wednesday and Thursday. The board held a crisis meeting on Wednesday and did not act against Mr Milne, but did ask him to stand aside the next day. Connors was present at the Wednesday meeting, which was held the same day hundreds of outraged staff rallied at ABC headquarters in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. Sacking board members is difficult under the legislation that governs the ABC. However some journalists have considered holding a stop-work meeting to move a no-confidence motion in Connors. She would not automatically lose her position if the motion passed, but the message would be devastating and Connors would have to consider her future. Loading But a staff vote would be highly divisive, and Connors' defenders argue it would be premature because a director is restricted by how much they can say about the board's deliberations. Connors and the ABC board's six other directors are expected to give evidence to an investigation by the secretary of the Department of Communications and Arts as well as a Senate inquiry.

Staff are also weighing up passing a no-confidence motion in the full board, which would avoid singling out just one director. In a sign ABC staff expect the board will become casualties of the affair, union representatives have started referring to directors as the "interim board". "While we appreciate there are confidentiality requirements for board members, it is time to lift the veil in the interests of full and frank disclosure," the ABC's Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance house committee said. "The Australian people have a right to know the full picture of what has been happening." Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video

Connors has been with the ABC for more about 30 years and is an adviser to the editorial policies team. She beat fellow journalists Karen Percy, Matt Words­worth, Ben Hawke, Jason Om and Philippa McDonald in a ballot earlier this year for the five-year position. While staff broadly support her decision to end Ms Guthrie's controversial tenure, many have questioned what she did once she found out Mr Milne had demanded journalists be fired for political reasons. Loading Former staff-elected director Quentin Dempster, who campaigned for Connors' election to the board, said she was a "hero" for seeing off a "sub-optimal managing director and an interfering chairman". However the former TV host agreed the board had questions to answer.