Viewers defend news anchor ‘caught sleeping’ during live broadcast

One of the things you might not know about working in journalism is that the hours aren’t great.

There are a lot of early starts and late nights as you chase stories, attend events, and conduct interviews.

So with that in mind, I have a lot of sympathy for Good Morning Memphis anchor Dominique Dillon, who earlier this week appeared to fall asleep during a live broadcast.

In the clip, reporter Sheila O’Connor had just finished her report on the annual Memphis to Peoria run in St. Jude when the camera cut back to the studio.

Unfortunately, Dillon clearly wasn’t expecting to be back on camera so soon and could be seen resting her eyes while holding her head.

Poor O’Connor then stared into a blank space with an awkward smile on her face until we cut to the ads.

All very embarrassing, especially as it was broadcast to an entire city.

Still, a lot of viewers were quick to defend Dillon.

‘Those morning shifts are so challenging. Let’s give her some grace and support,’ wrote erinecomo on Instagram.

‘She’s a mom of two, a baby and a toddler while doing full reporting in Memphis,’ added filmsofherstory. ‘Baby, it’s HARD! She does a phenomenal job, and so I understand her to the T. It’s not easy.

makeupdiva2know agreed, saying: ‘She has two small children. Show her some grace!’

Some fans like fluke_in_flow even went so far as to blame the producer and director for the gaffe.

‘That looks like sabotage to me,’ Fluke wrote.’Because why would that producer take that shot?’

Despite the mistake, Dillon’s not let the incident get her down.

Following the broadcast, Dillon shared a photo taken by her co-anchor Ernie Freeman on Facebook where she pretended to be asleep in the background.

‘Now that The Big Show is over, it’s time for Dominique Dillon to catch another nap,’ Freeman captioned the photo, to which she replied: ‘Couldn’t even give me a nudge.’