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Tova O’Brien (Photo: FIRST)
Tova O’Brien (Photo: FIRST)

Pop CultureOctober 27, 2021

Tova O’Brien almost got blown away by a gust of wind during her first live cross

Tova O’Brien (Photo: FIRST)
Tova O’Brien (Photo: FIRST)

Newshub’s political editor tells us about her first live cross, breaking the law and more in this week’s episode of FIRST.

One does not simply walk into the Beehive theatrette. Before they become, for example, Newshub’s political editor, every young television journalist must first pay their dues – starting with live crosses reporting on dangerous weather.

“Producers love sending out cub reporters on weather crosses,” explains Tova O’Brien, whose first ever live cross was reporting on 140km/h gusts of wind. “I had to take my heels off because I couldn’t ground myself,” she remembers. “Just as they came to me, this 140km gust of wind hit…”

Imagine, O’Brien suggests, a dog with its head out the window of a car travelling on the open road. “I had saliva blowing out of my mouth… That was my first live cross.”


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