When the biggest of stories breaks

It’s days like this that radio newsroom staff find themselves flying by the seat of their pants, running on adrenaline.

As the world comes to grips with the death of Queen Elizabeth II – the UK’s longest serving monarch – today, many journalists will be experiencing the biggest ‘news day’ of their lives.

For the breakfast newsreader, the back-up writer and the newsroom as a whole, it’s intense, exhausting – at times exhilarating – but mostly it’s just full on.

You forget to eat. Sometimes you even forget to breathe. And if you don’t pace yourself, you’re liable to fall in a screaming heap even before lunchtime rolls around.

The memory of covering the September 11 attacks for Triple M in Melbourne in 2001 will never leave me.

Half asleep as I was at the time, I still clearly remember the rambling message being left on my answering machine at home. The instruction was clear. Turn on my television NOW. Then head straight in to work.

Your brain does funny things when it’s trying to process the shocking truth of what is unfolding right before your eyes.

Sometimes the most inconsequential things come to mind and you have odd little debates with yourself. In my case, it was “Do I have time for a quick shower to wake up properly, or should I just wash my face?”

For the next few days I survived on little more than triple strength coffee and the sugar fixes I got from the super-size cookies I raided from the staff vending machine. Afterwards I felt like I could have slept for a week.

Newsroom staff are at their best when big news is breaking, simply because it’s all hands on deck. Everybody unites as one with a common goal.

So if that’s you today, hang in there. Give yourself a pat on the back. Give yourself a break. And if you’re unsure about what role you are expected to play, just ask.

I always say there is no such thing as a silly question.

Breakfast show teams across the country spent the morning paying tribute as they, too, grappled with the news of Her Majesty’s passing.

As he was about to go on air on Melbourne’s Gold 104.3, breakfast host Christian O’Connell tweeted how surreal it felt.

2GB had Anthony Albanese on bright and early, the PM telling Ben Fordham “I’m sure that Australians who are waking up to this news, in spite of the fact that Her Majesty had lived such a long life, it still comes as a shock. It was as if she was going to always be there.”

Listen here.

On Brisbane’s 4BC, Today reporter Jess Millward told Laurel, Gary & Mark the Queen seemed to have a soft spot for the Sunshine State.

“That’s when she said the iconic words, ‘I know you like to call your state the Sunshine State, but I prefer to think of it as its original name, Queensland.’”

Listen here.

Photo credit: 4BC

Sarah Patterson is a journalist of more than 30 years and News Director at Air News.