The coronavirus dominates my life and work like I’ve never experienced before

I have never been so frightened by a news story, and my job means I can’t ignore it, even if I wanted to, says Sean O’Grady

I like to watch out for any minister who is as bad as Alok Sharma. Only Gavin Williamson has come close thus far (PA)

Being a conscientious journalist (I try), lockdown still means following the news, which involves a very heavy exposure to coronavirus and its terrifying effects. As it happens, I’m all for the most graphic descriptions of the progress of Covid-19, and the heart-breaking accounts of personal loss, because they might just serve as a deterrent to anyone toying with the idea of letting up on staying indoors. Still, it can get to you.

The fixed points in the day start with some glum reports from the front line on the BBC Today programme, usually accompanied by a dispiriting interview with a minister. Next up is the noontime session with Nicola Sturgeon doing her level best to outshine the bunch in London. At 2pm we get the daily death toll. That is followed by the 5pm Downing Street briefing.

I like to watch out for any minister who is as bad as Alok Sharma. Only Gavin Williamson has come close thus far. Latterly, these sessions have been marked by some more encouraging news, but they usually just prove that the government hasn’t got a plan and never had one. Later there’s Newsnight and the daily bitter-sweet spectacle of Donald Trump being Donald Trump. In between there’s the live blogs, rolling news channels, select committee hearings and Twitter to try to keep up with. Then it’s the front pages, midnight news and some fitful sleep.

I have never been so frightened by a news story, and my job means I can’t ignore it, even if I wanted to. There is nothing else to write about. No other story in my lifetime has so dominated life for so long: the financial crises; the wars in the Falklands; Afghanistan; Iraq; 9/11; general elections; strikes; the downfall of the Soviet Union... all created a news monoculture for weeks at a time, but none as complete or for as long as coronavirus seems likely to.

We are, as an industry and as news “consumers”, unused to such monotony, and the natural inclination is to get bored with it. But we can’t, and it’s all hard to understand. The world of the three-word slogan, the 140-character Tweet, the nine-second sound bite and badly compressed attention spans, is not well prepared for this.

Yours,

Sean O’Grady

Managing editor