David Johnston, New Worlds for Old, 1971.

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David Johnston, New Worlds for Old, 1971.
Mount St. Helens as seen from Coldwater II observation post, the day before the eruption that would completely obliterate Coldwater II observation post.
Photograph by Harry Glicken, May 17, 1980.
This is Dale Jennings, reporting to you all for News At Six from 1989! 🌟💖📺
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As all of my readers know, I love researching the real history behind The Newsreader! So when the Season Three trailer gave us our first glimpse of the brand new News At Six news desk for 1989, you can imagine how itchy I felt to start investigating to find the real news desk from the era that inspired it!
Season One’s was based off Ten’s Eyewitness News from 1986 (as seen in these pics of Melbourne’s Jo Pearson and David Johnston), Season Two’s was based off Seven’s Nightly News set from circa 1988 (anchored by Jennifer Keyte and Glenn Taylor in Melbourne), and for Season Three, we are seeming to return back to the designs of Seven Nightly News, this time their 1989 set. It bears some similarities to the 1988 set, except with a futuristic silver, blue and chrome tone.
For historical reference and evidence, I’m including these images from Brisbane and Melbourne’s Seven Nightly News, both from 1989. These feature Brisbane’s newsreaders of Kay McGrath and Frank Warrick (with sports reporter Peter Meares), and Melbourne’s team of Jennifer Keyte and Glenn Taylor.
From the tiny amount we’ve seen of our Season Three desk, our desk is sans the computer monitors in the background, and from the positioning of the lights above, we can assume we will have that row of screens running across the top, like Channel Seven’s. We also have a pronounced and rounded screen on the side so that Dale can watch crossovers and do satellite interviews, although it’s possible the real deal did too, I’ve just not been able to find footage supporting this to share as evidence.
We are lucky to have these images and footage due to the preservation work of professional and unofficial archivists on the internet, and so if you would like to watch the clips sourced to support their work, you can search the titles and users below. A big thank you to these users for preserving and sharing these pieces of Australian media history! Which news desk from The Newsreader has been your favourite?
Sourced Videos:
‘ATV-10 Eyewitness News, Thursday March 27 1986 - Russell Street Bombing’ - OldNewsAUS from YouTube (uploaded 7/02/2014)
‘1988 Seven Nightly News Launch - Melbourne’ 18/01/1988 - Andrew Heslop from YouTube (uploaded 10/09/2023)
‘BTQ7 Seven Nightly News Opener/Closer 15/5/1989’ - Dan Martin from YouTube (uploaded 20/03/2020)
‘Seven Nightly News Australia (HSV7 Melbourne) Sept 29 1989’ - Australian Television Archive from YouTube (uploaded 8/03/2016)
Last known photograph of vulcanologist David Johnston, at Coldwater II Camp, near Mt. St. Helens, Washington, May 17, 1980. He was among the 57 who perished when Mt. St. Helens erupted the next day. The area is now called Johnston Ridge, in his honor
24 September 2016 | Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, Prince William, Duke of Cambridge with David Johnston, Governor General of Canada and his wife Sharon Johnston at Governement House in Victoria, Canada. Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, Prince George and Princess Charlotte are visiting Canada as part of an eight day visit to the country taking in areas such as Bella Bella, Whitehorse and Kelowna. (c) Chris Jackson/Getty Images
Lin Carter (editor) - New Worlds For Old - Ballantine - 1971 (cover art by David Johnston)
New Worlds for Old (1971). Swirling cover art by David Johnston.