ABC presenter Jon Faine has ripped into Michelle Guthrie's legacy, arguing her stint as managing director has been an "astonishing fail".

Faine made his remarks minutes after it was announced the ABC board had shown Guthrie the door, saying the former managing director had "no interest in journalism" or the "nuts and bolts" of the public broadcaster.

"She came in here, to the ABC, and was given the benefit of the doubt," he said. "Most of us were excited that a woman - a woman who had a history of media engagement in our region and a woman clearly on top of new media - was going to be at the helm.

"The first time I met her I thought she was very charming. She was clearly very smart. But the expiration of the first year it became clear she was only interested in a very small parts of what the organisation did.