This morning, on Jon Faine’s 774 ABC Melbourne program, Faine and ABC
Victoria manager Ian Mannix took calls from listeners – women only –
auditioning for the position of drive presenter, left vacant by
Virginia Trioli’s departure to sister Sydney station 702.

For current fill-in Tracey Curro, in her car en route to ABC Southbank,
it was an unsettling Wednesday morning listening experience –
exacerbated by the fact that, at the time, Curro did not know whether
or not she would be presenting the program beyond this Friday.

For 774 staff, already numbed by weeks of (often inaccurate,
occasionally bizarre) media speculation and their bosses’
intransigent refusal to let them know what’s going on, the on-air move
was a jaw dropper.

Apart from the breathtaking rudeness and collegiate disloyalty shown by
Faine and Mannix, the segment threw up an interesting moment when
Mannix identified the two most important characteristics of the
station’s eventual drive presenter: the ability to engage with the
audience, and a great love of and familiarity with Melbourne.

Next week’s drive presenter: Lindy Burns, presenter, ABC Newcastle. She’ll have to be pretty damn engaging.