Justin Stevens has resigned after four years in his role as the ABC’s director of news.He described his four years in the senior role as “incredibly tough but immensely rewarding” in a statement published by the ABC.“Having said that, for reasons both professional and personal, now is the right time for me to move on and for someone else to take over the helm of the best news team in the country,” Stevens said.ABC managing director Hugh Marks wished Stevens the best in his future in a statement.“Justin has achieved this through a period of significant change and challenges across the media landscape, both internationally and in Australia,” Mr Marks’ statement, published by the ABC, read.Stevens’ major move comes after 19 years at the national broadcaster, having joined the ABC in 2006. He worked as a producer on both 7.30 and Four Corners throughout his career, winning a Logie in 2018 for his work on the program The Siege about the Lindt Cafe siege.He was appointed director of news in 2022.Stevens’ replacement is anticipated to be announced in the coming week, the Sydney Morning Herald reports, and is expected to be from an external hire.The veteran media boss last year spoke of the “tough” decision to axe the national broadcaster’s Q+A program after an 18-year run. “We always need to keep innovating and renewing, and in the two decades since Q+A began the world has changed,” Stevens said last June.“It’s time to rethink how audiences want to interact and to evolve how we can engage with the public to include as many Australians as possible in national conversations.”The ABC made headlines earlier this year when staff carried out a nationwide shutdown as unionised members went on a 24-hour strike over a pay dispute.Mr Marks accused his staff of treating the strike “like a bit of a game”, telling ABC Radio Sydney in March that the strike is “really serious”. “I think both sides need to say the audience comes first and we need to stop playing these games and get to an outcome,” Mr Marks said.MEAA deputy chief executive Adam Portelli later called the remarks “really insulting” and “disrespectful” to staff while speaking to the same program.“I assure you that ABC staff do not think this is a game … I would have thought the fact that they’ve taken industrial action for the first time in 20 years would make that clear to ABC management,” he said.