Stubborn. Naughty. Brave to the point of foolhardiness. A wildcard. A visionary.
These are some of the words colleagues use to describe Peter McEvoy, the executive producer and creator of the ABC's Q&A program. In an industry dominated by attention seekers, McEvoy exerts his influence off camera, in the shadows. In the past fortnight, however, he's been at the centre of a political and media firestorm for allowing former terror suspect Zaky Mallah to question a junior government minister live on air.
Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull launched a government inquiry; Prime Minister Tony Abbott called for "heads to roll". Victorian Liberal MP and former ABC journalist Sarah Henderson publicly said that head should be McEvoy's.
On Wednesday the ABC board announced McEvoy had received a formal warning for misconduct under the ABC's industrial agreement.
To some, McEvoy has become a symbol for all that's wrong with "their ABC". To others, he's a martyr being crucified for the crime of airing confronting views.
Those who know him aren't surprised this behind-the-scenes operator is now in the spotlight.
"He's always been a bit of a wildcard," says an ABC veteran who has known McEvoy for many years. "He's not much of a respecter of hierarchy. He tends to do his own thing. He can be brave to the point of foolhardiness on occasions. He does like gotchas, he likes doing things that will get the show noticed."
Another ABC veteran describes him as a "knockabout bloke" more likely to be seen at the ABC's Ultimo headquarters in Sydney wearing a jumper and chinos than a suit and tie.
While you've probably never seen McEvoy's face, chances are you've heard him. Formerly an executive producer of Media Watch, McEvoy is a regular voice-over artist for the program. He wasn't heard in this week's episode; instead, his decision-making was being dissected by host Paul Barry.
Barry says of McEvoy, his former Media Watch executive producer: "He's very strong, he's brave, he can be pretty stubborn.
"He really believes in freedom of debate and [Q&A's] role. Perhaps in the current climate he needs to take more caution.
"But people have to remember he created the show, which has been a major success."
During his more than 20 years at the ABC, McEvoy has won five Walkley Awards – including the Gold Walkley for journalistic excellence.
In 2000 he became Media Watch's executive producer and oversaw the program during some of its most tumultuous years.
The program became embroiled in a culture war with conservative commentators for questioning whether The Australian's Janet Albrechtsen had twisted the words of European academics to argue gang rapes in Sydney were a result of Islamic values.
"He was willing, determined and to my mind absolutely fair," says David Marr, who became host in 2002 with McEvoy still serving as executive producer. "What we did in those years caused huge ructions within News Limited. News Limited loathed us."
Marr and McEvoy later won a Walkley for exposing the Telstra "cash-for-comment" scandal involving Sydney talkback hosts Alan Jones and John Laws.
In 2007, while he was studying a fellowship at Oxford University, ABC management asked McEvoy to return to Australia to improve some of its factual programs. One of those was Q&A's predecessor, Difference of Opinion. "Boring as batshit," recalls a former ABC journalist.
McEvoy, who declined to comment for this piece, had a vision for a different type of panel show. Rather than imparting information, the aim would be to engage ordinary Australians in political debate. He would later extend the idea by pioneering the use of audience tweets live on air.
"The ABC has only created a handful of great shows in recent years and Q&A is one of them," Marr says.
It's a risky format that has produced spectacular moments.
But the view of ABC management and the board is that McEvoy made a serious "error of judgment" in allowing Mallah to ask a live question. He was warned for misconduct because he did not refer that decision upwards for approval before the broadcast.
For now he remains at the helm of the show he created - a show the Prime Minister calls a "lefty lynch mob" and ABC managing director Mark Scott says he hopes remains on air for 20 years.
"If there's another mistake," says an ABC veteran, "he'll be out on his ear."
