Playing chicken with the ABC
Dr Mumbo has suffered through his fair share of tech issues, but none have delivered an outcome quite as bizarre as that which occurred at the ABC this morning.
A power outage at Aunty’s Ultimo headquarters managed to completely crash the ABC News website and app, but for some users, this didn’t result in a broken link or missing page, but a trip back in time to 2011.
A select group of lucky ABC fans who tried to access the site this morning were presented with a homepage from 2011, displaying stories about then-Prime Minister Julia Gillard and pop star Lady Gaga performing a surprise Sydney concert.
Tech issues has turned the @abcnews website into a time capsule. Some interesting stories from mid-2011. pic.twitter.com/JTOP8F2luf
— Maddalena Easterbrook (@mmmeasterbrook) November 26, 2019
The entire site was dragged down by 10am, but like Dr Mumbo, the internet never forgets, and the proof was everywhere. Users nabbed screenshots from business pages discussing the Australian dollar reaching parity with the US, and entertainment pages floating the possibility of an Oprah-hosted Oscars.
Even more bizarre was what befell the ABC News Breakfast team, who jumped in to help the News Morning team when their office was plunged into darkness, which perhaps explains why the opening title of the morning news program was … a chicken.
It's just not the ABC's day today.
First the @abcnews website outage, then the @BreakfastNews opening title was a chicken for 15 seconds.
Oh dear @mjrowland68 and @LisaMillar. pic.twitter.com/fxfs83Ad9J
— Ben Grubb ? (@bengrubb) November 26, 2019
Whether the new avian opener was a result of the power outage or not remains to be seen, but Dr Mumbo hopes it becomes a regular fixture.
… if Annabel Crabb’s weekend story is anything to go by, people in the ABC’s newsroom would probably prefer that it was 2011 and Julia Gillard still PM!!!!!
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The ABC News Breakfast team did not have to prepare in the dark at all. They’re in Melbourne, not Sydney.
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Hi Insider,
You are correct, it was ABC News Mornings who suffered and ABC News Breakfast who stepped in to save them. Thanks for the catch.
Hannah – Mumbrella
You’re welcome Hannah
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