A top executive for a major media outlet in Australia who admittedly faced "constant" pressure from various different interest groups has now stepped down from his prominent leadership role.

David Anderson, the managing director of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, announced his intentions this week to resign after six years in the role, though he has agreed to remain at the job indefinitely until a permanent replacement is appointed, according to the ABC.

The resignation comes months after hundreds of his own journalists passed a "no confidence" vote on his leadership for not standing up for a fired journalist, even as others praised him for acting as a "human shield" to protect his reporters and whistleblowers from government scrutiny and retribution over critical reporting that exposed alleged government wrongdoing.

Faced "constant" pressure in leadership role

In an emailed statement to staff on Thursday, per the ABC, Anderson wrote, "I am still very much committed to the importance of the ABC to the nation," but noted, "I believe it is the right moment for leadership renewal for the next stage of the ABC's continued evolution."

Anderson, who first joined the ABC in 1989 and led several divisions before being appointed as managing director in 2019, had just begun a second five-year term in the role when he decided that it was time for him to step aside and be replaced by somebody else, though he acquiesced to a request from ABC Chairman Kim Williams to delay his actual departure until a replacement was appointed, likely early next year.

In an interview with ABC host Ros Childs about his decision to resign, Anderson acknowledged the "constant" pressure he faced from all angles, and said, "Of course it's difficult to know the pressure that you're going to experience [in a job like this] until you're in it," and added, "These roles are quite demanding -- you throw everything at it. But if I look at the ABC at the moment, the ABC is in very good shape."

Praised for stabilizing network, defending journalists from government retribution

Chairman Williams and other top ABC executives, such as News Director Justin Stevens, separately praised Anderson for restoring "calm and assured leadership" at the network following a "period of disruption" under the prior leadership team, as well as for leading the network's transition into digital broadcasting.

He also earned praise from some for defending his employees from government raids that were intended to "intimidate journalists for doing their jobs" following damning whistleblower reports about government misconduct, including alleged unlawful killings in Afghanistan by Australian Special Forces and exposing allegations of inappropriate behavior and sexism by a former attorney general.

ABC journalist Laura Tingle, whom Anderson defended after she reported critically on a political opposition leader, heralded her boss and highlighted the "immense toll that must have been taken on someone who has often had to act as a human shield, or punching bag, for the national broadcaster."

ABC journalists passed "no confidence" resolution against Anderson in dust-up over Israel-Hamas conflict

Not everybody at the ABC was thrilled with Anderson's leadership, though, particularly with his demand that his journalists remain neutral and unbiased in covering the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza following the coordinated Hamas terror attacks and kidnappings in Israel last October.

In January, roughly 200 ABC employees who are members of the Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance union passed a "no confidence" resolution against Anderson after he allegedly failed to defend one of their own and "buckling to outside pressure and leaving staff high and dry."

Though unspecified in that MEAA resolution, a June report from The Guardian revealed that the ABC journalists were angry with Anderson over the December firing of fill-in radio host Antoinette Lattouf for allegedly violating the network's social media policy.

Lattouf, an Australian of Lebanese descent, had made anti-Israel posts prior to being sacked, and she is now suing the network for wrongfully terminating her for political and racial reasons.

However, just one day after the MEAA members passed their "no confidence" resolution for Anderson, the ABC Board voted unanimously to express their full confidence in his continued leadership.