Like the rest of us, Shannon Bream is hunkered down at home. The difference, though, is that at 11 o’clock at night, the cameras in her house start rolling.
Bream, anchor of “Fox News @ Night,” which has been airing weeknights from 11 p.m. until 1 a.m. since the coronavirus pandemic began, is broadcasting her show from the makeshift studio in her house, maneuvering her way through moment-by-moment news updates and often hosting a rolodex of medical experts, each of whom are responding to a series of viewer questions.
While the fast-moving transition to working from home has been disorienting for a lot of people, Bream told Faithwire it’s also rendered some “hidden blessings.”
“My husband already worked from home, so he already has an office here. So now I’m sort of like his coworker,” she joked. “People are dealing with it in different ways, but I’m just really grateful that, for our team, we’re able to be in a lot of different places but still get a show on every night.”
Working from home and fighting the inclination to worry about loved ones living far from Bream and her husband in Washington, D.C., has made this worldwide cultural moment particularly unique.
For perhaps the first time in a century, barring 9/11, Americans are — all at once — collectively facing the impacts of a national crisis.
“It’s one of those moments in history where you’re not just reporting on the story,” Bream explained. “It’s also real life for all of us as journalists, too.”
The Fox News anchor later noted the tragic deaths of colleagues at CBS and NBC, as well as news of CNN anchor Chris Cuomo’s positive test for the coronavirus.
“Obviously, we wish him the very speediest recovery,” Bream said. “He’s a tough cookie and he’s a fighter and he’s gonna do great with it.”
Still, though, tucked in between the hardships and heartbreaks of this season are “hidden blessings.” One of them, Bream said, is how her morning routine has changed since all of this began a few weeks ago.
Before the coronavirus pandemic, the first thing Bream did was roll over and check her phone for emails, news updates, and Twitter notifications. These days, she’s slowing down, taking time in the morning to reflect, pray, and read Scripture.
“For me, my faith is the most important thing,” said Bream, who is a Christian. “First thing I do when I get out of bed is I say a quick prayer, brush my teeth, and then I sit down. I read the Word, I journal, I get out all my fears and anxieties there on the page, try to pray through that, and just try to get equipped, because I know in my own strength, it ’s not enough.”
“These are long days and the news is tough,” she continued. “So I really have to go to somewhere else, and someone bigger, who is not surprised by any of this and promises us refuge and protection.”
It’s easy to feel overwhelmed — and Bream admitted she’s felt it herself — but that hasn’t stopped her from doing her best to slow down, to find the positive in the midst of this trying time.
These social distancing measures, which have sent most of us home to spend more time with our loved ones and less time running from one place to the next, longing for just one day off, have given us the opportunity to take inventory of our lives. In many ways, this season might be “bringing out our better impulses,” Bream said.
She also gets to have dinner with her new coworker now, too.
“I don’t usually have time to sit down and have dinner with my husband; I’m at work,” Bream said. “To actually sit down and say, ‘Alright, I’m here in the house. This is where the show’s gonna happen, this is where I’m doing all of my researching and studying today.’ I can stop for 30 minutes and have dinner with him.”
“I think there are so many little hidden blessings in there.”