Finally! We're a (semi) real studio!

Last night marked the first time we've used our shoebox here at the ABC News Online Broadband Unit for anything beyond chroma key hostings. Opportunity smiled upon us when former Malaysian deputy prime minister and one of the region's more notable former political prisoners, Anwar Ibrahim, was asked to come into the Brisbane News Studio to do an interview with the ABC's Lateline program.



Former Malaysian deputy prime minister, Anwar Ibrahim

"So," thinks our man Stefan, "so long as he's going to be here anyway, why not get him up to answer a few questions for us as well?" It made sense. Mr Anwar was already going to be here, already made up for his five minutes with Tony Jones, so why not make the most of the situation?

Well that kind of threw my boss Matt into a bit of a spin. He wound up having to relight the studio for a 1+1 interview on a set that, while theoretically being created for such tasks, wasn't quite ready. After switching the interview, he then had to reset the lights for the next news update that night, all before going home that night to pack for a trip to Sydney today. Nice effort.

Anyway, I'm really disappointed that I didn't get to be here for it, but having started at 5am that morning there wasn't much chance of staying until 8pm that night. I guess I'll have to wait for the next time. I've already voiced my opinion that the links should be recorded from a purpose built set in the newsroom leaving the studio for more of these sorts of interviews. We'll see how it goes.

Anwar Sets Australia a Tough Task - ABC News Online

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