Helen Norville, in The Newsreader’s S02E02 💜📺🌟
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Even when one is trying to get someone much needed shut-eye, the phones do not rest.
The ringing awoke Helen, and she picked up the handset to hear Dale’s voice.
“Hello. So get in the shower. Get camera ready. I’m coming over with a crew.”
This was the last thing Helen wanted to do.
“No,” she replied, putting the phone back down.
Dale wouldn’t give up, and rang her again.
“I need you to trust me. I’ve got an idea, and I’ll be there in twenty minutes, okay?”
They were to vox-pop the community at a local park. Helen was sceptical of this idea.
“No one has looked at the impact this has had on ordinary people… I’m pitching a portrait of a grieving city trying to piece itself back together again,” Dale reframed.
It turned out the community had a lot to say. A woman’s children were familiar with Hoddle Street, and hearing a lot about it at school. She had reassured her children that they were safe, but she wasn’t sure if she believed this herself.
A bloke mentioned that there were gun-toting movie posters hanging up in High Street, and that it would be hard for him to see these films in the same light as he had before.
“Do you think the media has a role to play in real world violence?” Helen queried.
“I don’t know, maybe.” He replied.
There was people creating hope too. A young man had seen himself in the victims’ ages; mostly in their twenties, and he started volunteering at a helpline.
“There’s a lot of calls, and a lot of hurt, but it makes you feel more connected.” He shared. “Because I guess we’ve got to stay together, especially in times like this.”
Helen, watching this piece on in the studio, looked over to Dale, and mouthed a “thank you.” This was what the people of their community needed, and as was their duty to their community, they had delivered this balm to them.
“As ordinary people demonstrate such courage and grace in the wake of such a tragedy by simply carrying on, we realise that the spirit of this community can never be extinguished,” Helen said to camera.
“I’m Helen Norville. News At Six.”
