Lisa Millar unpacks what ABC News Breakfast looks for in a story

“Michael and I get in about 3:30am. We have a staff meeting at about 5:00am where we run through the show – what's planned, what our top story is, what we're going to tease, what our best vision is for the day...” -Lisa Millar, ABC News Breakfast

Australia’s breakfast TV wars have been dominated by Channel Nine’s Today Show and Seven’s Sunrise. Other stations have tried but these two early morning juggernauts have had decades of loyal followers always battling for the top spot – until now. The ratings have become a closer race during the past two years after one of ABC’s most experienced foreign correspondents, Walkley award-winning journalist and author of a new memoir called Daring to Fly Lisa Millar took the helm alongside reporter Michael Rowland. For the first time during its 14 years on air, ABC’s early morning flagship News Breakfast program has toppled the traditional big guns.

And for those in public relations and communications, this means looking at the program with fresh eyes and assessing when and how to pitch what stories.

“The biggest one is that the audience is way more used to seeing people on Zoom and Skype and they don't mind that it looks a bit rough and ready,” Lisa says.

Inclusion and diversity are key to ABC’s charter, so PRs should consider gender, ethnicity, location and socio-economic diversity in their pitches.

“The first question that the producers will ask someone who might've pitched something is, ‘Do you have a woman?’...because we are committed to a 50/50 gender target that we have to reach on a daily basis.”

Lisa also shares moments from her memoir Daring to Fly which tracks the journey of a kid from a tiny Queensland town who goes on to cover some of the world’s most impactful events, including September 11, all while battling a fear that almost grounded her career.

It’s PR Darlings is produced by Jo Stone from Sticks and Stones PR and Greer Quinn from Forward Communications.

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We acknowledge the traditional landowners and pay our respect to elders past and present, and all Indigenous Australian and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.

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