Nashville, 2 a.m.: Fox 17 This Morning

It’s two hours until air and the soundtrack of the Fox 17 newsroom is a combination of police-scanner squawks and the fervent tapping of fingers on keyboards. Over in a pod of cubicles, the next newscast is being assembled, while assignment editor Dasia Clemente decides if the latest fire department chatter is worth sending a photographer to cover.

Stacey Springob indulges a few questions, but the Scene becomes acutely aware that the pod has work to do. She arrived in Nashville from a station in Charleston, S.C., five months ago. Like the other assistant producers, she’s young, female and staring down hours of morning television that need scripts. Springob’s shift started at 10 p.m., and she will write the first hour-and-a-half of Fox 17 This Morning while her podmates, Nicole Roschella and Bailey Cordes, pick up the rest of the show, which runs weekday mornings from 4 to 9 a.m.

Four years ago, they were all still in college. Now, under the comparatively veteran leadership of executive producer Emily Muniz, 29, they’re sorting through what will become the day’s headlines: Former Titan Derrick Mason’s domestic assault charge barely made the end of the previous day’s 9 p.m. newscast, so that will probably lead; President Trump is always good for a headline or two; a shooting at the University of Utah has some video; the Vanderbilt women’s basketball team took a knee during the national anthem. There will be several different audiences during a five-hour broadcast, so many of these headlines will be repeated.

By 2:30 a.m., the talent starts arriving. Reporters Justin McFarland and Harriet Wallace will be here for an hour, but they’re headed to the field for an endless stream of remote segments: Wallace to Gallatin Road and McFarland to Madison for a piece on sex offenders at Halloween. Anchor A.J. Hilton starts flipping through scripts and talking with Muniz about the day’s stories. “Make sure we don’t confuse [Vanderbilt football coach] Derek Mason with [Tennessee Titan] Derrick Mason,” he says. More than one person asks about the unknown car in the parking lot — it’s mine — a habit that comes from working in the middle of the night

In the tiny makeup area — think walk-in closet with dramatically better lighting — Samantha Russell is getting ready. I ask if a nickname is required to do traffic reporting: Her mom gave her the moniker “Traffic Jam Sam.” “It helps,” she says, as she details her path from a producer role for six years in Birmingham, Ala., to being on air in Nashville. How much caffeine is required to be this, well, perky at almost 3 a.m.? Not that much, she says. Besides, if you drink too much coffee at this hour, you’ll end up with the shakes. For Russell, it’s a matter of will. “Attitudes are contagious,” she says.

Kelly Rippin walks into the attached break room and immediately heads for the giant cooler full of ice cream sandwiches. Breakfast of champions? “I’m not eating ice cream at 2 a.m.,” she says, aware that her words are being written down. “I’m trying to make the swelling around my eyes go down.” She’ll be the first on air, anchoring from 4 to 5 a.m. before Jennifer Waddell takes over and she moves to the “breaking news” desk.

“There are certain things at this hour that you have no control over,” says Rippin. Most nights she’s in bed by 7:30 p.m., but sports can throw that schedule off — the Predators’ run to the Stanley Cup Finals was brutal and required a few all-nighters, as two hours of sleep can sometimes be worse than no sleep at all. Waddell walks in a little after 3; she’s earned a later start time.

“Usually by the time I’m in here, we’ve already looked at a script,” she says. Her kids kept her up until the late hour of 9:30 p.m. last night. She enjoys the morning show and this crew of people, but the hours can still bite her in unexpected ways: She reached for her eye drops at home a couple weeks ago and accidently put in ear drops, a painful lesson about exhaustion and reading labels.

As the show draws closer, the team takes its places in the studio: Russell and weatherman Craig Edwards at the desk, Hilton in the breaking-news spot and Rippin in the anchor chair.

With 20 seconds until air, Rippin catches a glimpse of herself on the monitor: “Oh my God, my eyes are still swollen,” she says semi-seriously, but it’s doubtful anyone who’s not in TV would notice. Whoever’s watching at this hour, they’re probably more concerned with the traffic or the weather.