As popular ABC Radio Canberra presenter Genevieve Jacobs prepares to sign off for good on Friday, ABC management is still refusing to detail why she will not be back on air in 2018.
Current Drive presenter Adam Shirley will present Mornings in 2018 but Ms Jacobs, 50, has ostensibly been replaced by a younger woman, Anna Vidot, who will present Afternoons next year.
A statement last week from ABC Canberra editor Michelle Ainsworth gave no firm indication of the reasons behind the decision and instead praised Ms Jacobs as "a highly respected journalist and broadcaster who has presented a number programs and connected deeply with the community over local stories and issues".
"With Genevieve's departure from ABC Radio Canberra we'll take the opportunity to refresh the program in 2018," was the only hint of a reason in Ms Ainsworth's statement.
Ms Ainsworth has since refused to answer any questions about Ms Jacobs.
The removal of Ms Jacobs from the airwaves has left listeners perplexed and prompted one, Ben Wilson, to start a petition on change.org, calling on the ABC to retain her services.
As of Friday morning, the petition had been signed by 1420 people.
Mr Wilson said Ms Jacobs "gave thoughtful, engaging and intelligent content to Canberra's airwaves" and the decision to not have her return in 2018 was a "poor and short-sighted" one.
"The broader point that I'm hoping to make is that the ABC is owned by the people, and as such has a responsibility to listen to its audience," Mr Wilson said.
But the ABC remains unmoved.
Its head spokesman, nationally, for radio, John Woodward, said on Wednesday the broadcaster would not be commenting on Ms Jacobs specifically.
That was despite listeners asking for answers and the ABC expecting other institutions and individuals to answer its questions.
"Each year, at this time of year, we review all our line-ups on all our capital city stations and national networks and each year we make changes to those line-ups to enable us to continuously refresh our content and meet the changing needs and habits of our audiences," Mr Woodward told The Canberra Times.
"Whenever we make a change, we get a mixed response from audiences, some wanting us to remain with the status quo and others happy to be introduced to new voices.
"In Canberra, we say farewell to Genevieve Jacobs after 10 years on air. We hope Canberrans will respond favourably to the changes at ABC Radio Canberra with a new lineup of presenters for 2018 which includes Adam Shirley presenting Mornings and Anna Vidot presenting Afternoons."
While Ms Jacobs has been at the ABC for a decade, only half of that time has been as host of Mornings. She started on Saturday morning gardening talkback on what was then 666 ABC Canberra.
Ms Jacobs' last shift will be 9am to 11am on Friday, with her final Chief Minister Talkback part of the program.
