For Angie Asimus, landing the “pinnacle” desk role at 7NEWS Sydney is a career milestone but it has been a long journey along a path that took her from regional NSW to Far North Queensland and then to Australia’s biggest city.
After years of dedication and hard work, Asimus is stepping up to join Michael Usher as co-anchor on weekends, marking an exciting new chapter in her storied career.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Looking back on the career of 7NEWS anchor Angie Asimus.
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“It’s that kind of job, it’s obviously the pinnacle, and I never banked on it,” Asimus tells 7NEWS.com.au.
“I love news, and I could do this forever, but it’s kind of a shock and it’s caused me to reflect back on things that have led to this moment.”
Asimus’s path to the anchor desk began in her regional New South Wales hometown of Gundagai, where her love of storytelling took root.
“I always loved writing. English was my favourite subject at school, so I guess I was always kind of looking out for what kind of a career would accommodate that I could get paid to write for a living,” she says.
“I did lots of work experience when I was at school. I did work experience in magazines, in publicity, and then I landed in a newsroom.”
A move to Sydney for university led her to the old 7NEWS office at Martin Place, where she got her first taste of the energetic atmosphere of a live newsroom.
“I walked in and I couldn’t believe this was actually the office,” she says.
“There was so much colour and excitement. And I just loved the whole atmosphere of responding to breaking news and everyone hitting the road and going out, you never know where you end up for the day.
“So after that, I thought, ‘Yeah, I’d love to do news’.”
After briefly cutting her teeth with Prime7 in Wagga Wagga, Asimus’s career took her to 7NEWS in Queensland, where she farewelled her family and boyfriend, now husband Chris Abbott, to face both the humidity and the excitement of field reporting.
“I’d never been to Far North Queensland at all,” she recalls.
“I remember my flight landed about eight o’clock at night, and the doors opened from the airport to outside, and this punch of heat hit me. I couldn’t believe it.”
“And that came with a whole lot of other challenges… you have to bring spare clothes in the car because you’d be honestly just dripping every single day and trying to be presentable.”
She recalls an early introduction to life in the tropics with a laugh.
“One of my first stories was a crocodile loose in the main street of town. It was an amazing time up there—it was really cool,” she says.
As for leaving behind her family, Asimus says her parents had always been “really supportive and really encouraging of whatever I wanted to do”.
“I think the first flight to Townsville was a challenge because I was leaving everyone behind, but I was so excited.
“My boyfriend at the time, who’s now my husband, didn’t come with me.”
However it would not be long before Abbott would join her in Queensland, embarking on an “adventure for us both”.
Asimus recalls the realities of the job, often unseen by viewers at home. “You see one thing on television but really to put together an 80-second story on the news takes the whole day.
“We’re travelling, we’re interviewing, writing, we’re cutting things down.”
“And, like, really, you would never have guessed that that’s how long it would take to produce that amount of television.”
Reporting on Cyclone Debbie in 2017 became a career-defining experience for Asimus.
“We had to get into this zone with very little notice,” she recalls.
“And we were the only media crew to make it in there before the cyclone hit, before the roads were all shut off. So we didn’t really have time to get any supplies.
“We were trading Arnott’s biscuits with other people, trying to borrow petrol from boaties as they were bringing their boats in … So yeah, they’re things I look back on and think, ‘Wow, I’m so glad I got through that’.”
Another day the journalist will never forget was covering the Lindt Café siege in 2014.
Asimus was on her way into work, which happened to be directly across from the Lindt Café in Martin Place, when she got the call to meet elsewhere.
“We had to leave our newsroom and make a makeshift newsroom at our corporate offices at Pyrmont, and that was just days and days and days of rolling coverage,” she says.
“I remember just an immense weight of responsibility with everything we did.
“To see those people running out of the building, I’ll remember that. And the flower memorial that just kept growing in one place — it was just extraordinary.”
While Asimus has been there for some major moments in Australian history, she looks back on the “rewarding” work she has been able to be part of.
“I think it’s the stories where we can use our platform to help people, when somebody who really needs a helping hand,” she says when asked about stories she is most proud of.
One particular story is that of one-year-old Grace Maly who has a very rare genetic condition and whose family was seeking donations to help fund medical research.
Following Asimus’ story, funding was able to be provided “thanks to the generosity of our viewers and others”.
“That will be life-changing for her, because she’ll actually now be able to have a dedicated researcher to look into this condition, and it could actually change her life,” the journalist says.
“It’s just so rewarding and such a privilege to be able to do that, it’s really meaningful work.”
In recent years, Asimus has continued working as a reporter, presenting the weather and is also a mum to children Austin and Scarlett.
Although she is adding weekend news anchor to the mix, she will continue presenting weather throughout the week.
Working alongside Michael Usher on the news desk is something she is thrilled about.
“We knew each other really well before this, because we’ve worked in the newsroom for many years,” she explains.
“He’s been so supportive of me taking on the role. And he’s obviously someone I respect incredibly in terms of what he’s achieved in his career.
“So I’m really excited to be able to work with him in a different capacity, sitting next to each other on the news desk.”
Watch Angie Asimus on weekend editions of Sydney’s 7NEWS on Friday and Saturday evenings, live from 6.00pm on Channel 7 and 7plus.
