I thought the introduction of new faces to the breakfast television line-ups might change the tone of the programmes on TVNZ and Three. And, briefly, it did.

When Daniel Faitaua returned to Breakfast on TVNZ1 and Lloyd Burr appeared on the rival AM Show, both men had a certain seriousness about them. They were journalists doing news.

It did not last long. Before their first weeks were out, they had become part of their respective jolly, jokey teams.

I am reminded of mixed flats, with the inhabitants sitting around with their morning coffee (sponsor’s name redacted), making light of the world before they have to venture out into it for the day. It is banter-ridden, full of laughter at each other’s witticisms and antics, punctuated by moments of seriousness when the news demands it.

Everyone is expected to play along with the light-hearted interactions. That includes the news readers – Nicky Styris on AM and Chris Chang on Breakfast – which I think is a mistake. Whatever they do with the rest of the three-hour shows, they should keep the news straight. That means their newsreaders displaying a degree of separation and certain amount of gravitas. Gravitas cannot be switched on at the top of the hour then switched off for 20 minutes or so before the next bulletin. It doesn’t work like that.

It takes something like events at Waitangi to tone down the levity, as we saw in yesterday’s offerings.

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