ABC (Australia's national public broadcaster) managing director Hugh Marks has confirmed he secretly hired a recruitment firm to conduct an international search for a replacement for news director Justin Stevens without informing him. Marks said the two men "couldn't get agreement on the way forward" after disagreeing over the direction of ABC News, ultimately forcing the 19-year ABC veteran to resign last month when Marks revealed he had poached senior Reuters executive Simon Robinson to take his place. Marks also signalled broader organisational change, saying all leadership roles were under review and hinting that some long-running legacy programmes may be axed as the broadcaster works to address overstretched resources across live news.