“Michael and I sat in our dressing rooms with our laptops, isolated from our colleagues”

ABC’s Lisa Millar has reflected on making breakfast television during the pandemic and how much adjustment was required, in a new book, Pandemedia: How COVID Changed Journalism.

Here is an excerpt of worklife in March 2020 at News Breakfast in Melbourne:

Executive producers Emily Butselaar and Tyson Shine made a decision to split both the production and presenting teams. Co-host Michael Rowland, weather presenter Nate Byrne and I stayed in Studio 38 on the ground floor. Nate’s computer was moved into the studio so when he wasn’t on air, he stayed within the bubble of our team.

Our finance presenter, Madeleine Morris, moved to a smaller studio upstairs. Paul Kennedy, then our sports presenter, broadcast mostly from home – we didn’t see him in person for almost a year. Viewers became obsessed with his background choices. What was the picture on the wall? What was the book on the shelf? They started sending their own – a picture of the MCG, a book they recommended for lockdown reading – hoping PK (as all our viewers knew him) would give them a moment in the spotlight.

Each team was desperate to never cross paths, to remove any chance of contamination if someone got sick. Casual make-up artists were culled and the number of staff who had direct contact with us could be counted on one hand.

Mads was asked to do her own hair and make-up in a dim upstairs area, to keep her movements contained. She’s the first to admit she’s no expert in that critical role and endured polite viewer concerns about her complexion or less-than-perfect hairstyle, or why she was puffing (she would often run up the stairs from the newsroom after grabbing the latest financial news off the wire).

Before COVID, Michael and I would start our morning in the newsroom, chatting about story ideas and checking details with producers, before going into the studio after 5.30am.

Now, the producers would text or email their thoughts as Michael and I sat in our dressing rooms with our laptops, isolated from our colleagues.

We would then rush through the newsroom, our masks tightly fitted, offering a quick wave of the hand and the briefest of hellos, fearing that too many moments spent transiting through the same airspace as our team would leave us vulnerable.

Friends ditched the city, as many people did, returning to the security of family homes in regional Victoria, leaving behind a near-empty house.

The producers were split as well, working one week in the studio and one week from home. As the Melbourne lockdowns dragged on, those weeks at home for many of the young producers became almost unbearable. Before COVID, they’d shared loud and happy homes with friends who’d spend their weekdays planning the weekend, and who slumbered while their housemate crept out after midnight to begin their News Breakfast shift.

 But those friends ditched the city, as many people did, returning to the security of family homes in regional Victoria, leaving behind a near-empty house filled now with the loneliness of its sole occupant.

You can read more at SMH.com.au