Partnerships Over the past decade The Sydney Morning Herald has supported major exhibitions at the National Gallery. Our media partnership taps into a shared passion for storytelling that educates, informs and entertains our collective communities. In the changing environment of COVID-19, we spoke with the Herald Editor, Lisa Davies, about how the newspaper has adapted.
Above: The Sydney Morning Herald Editor Lisa Davies (left) with NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian in Sydney. Below: Lisa Davies is the third female editor in the 189-year history of the SMH
What have been your daily challenges - and
just in the queue for a coffee. You can find out a
who’ve worked in their areas of speciality for a
wins - in managing a newsroom during the
lot by just spontaneously stopping to chat. But
long period of time.
international COVID-19 crisis?
with everyone working remotely, I’ve instead
Putting out the Herald remotely has been a huge challenge, and I can’t speak highly enough of the resilience of all staff members who just one day had to adjust their working environment so drastically. Anyone who’s been in a newsroom approaching a newspaper deadline knows there’s always lots of noise - people rushing
tried to reach out to people more directly via a phone call to check-in. It’s impossible to talk to everyone that way, but it’s made me value that incidental connection, and the benefits of collaboration in the newsroom environment. rooms, we still want them to feel connected.
how institutions like the NGA are coping in lockdown and what they’re offering their audiences is important, but also finding ways ourselves to showcase artistic expression in all
of that is far easier in person. Instead, we’ve used
its possible forms. It might be a smaller section
a combination of phone calls and our internal
for a time, but Spectrum on Saturday and our
messaging platform Slack to get the job done
arts pages during the week are still the places
with surprisingly few dramas. We’ve also seen
we’re doing that as much as possible.
an enormous surge in our subscriber numbers,
What are you watching / reading / listening to
which is heartening. The Herald has been
that inspires you right now?
around for 189 years this year, so it’s gratifying
in times of crisis. What lessons as a leader will you take forward from this period? The importance of taking time to connect. I
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You are only the third female (and youngest) editor in the history of the SMH, how has this shaped you as a leader? I started by giving people the respect they earned long before I was their boss, and being consultative. I’ve often been told I make quick
generally talk to reporters via text, WhatsApp,
and decisive decisions, which in the heat of a
Slack, email or a quick phone call to check a
major news story is a valuable skill to have. (My
detail or commission directly. But that is usually
gut instinct rarely lets me down!) But on bigger
balanced by face-to-face conversations around
decisions, perhaps related to strategy or editorial
the office, whether it be in the newsroom or
direction, I regularly seek input from those
nga.gov.au
Arts and culture are such a crucial part of our offering in normal times, and that’s the case even more so now. Stories about
for last minute changes to copy or headlines. All
be such a valuable asset to so many Australians
times?
While reporters are filing from their lounge
around checking proofs and calling out asking
that our brand of trusted journalism continues to
What is the role of arts and cultural content in The Sydney Morning Herald during these
Confession: I actually spent the first month of lockdown watching the entire six seasons of Downton Abbey, which has been a nice escape although the household’s brush with the Spanish Flu in season one was rather timely! In another step back in time, I’m reading Hillary Mantel’s Wolf Hall - another thing I’d never found time to absorb. I’m also trying to slow down through yoga and mindfulness, and see the lessons we can learn from this enormous global event.
