“What were you doing 20 years ago?” Alejandra Bellini asks Martín Girardi during one of the commercial breaks of To Cordoba. “I was still in elementary school,” the general producer replies with amusement. “No! Go over there, you better not even talk to me,” says the journalist with an explosive smile, provoking laughter and nostalgia from the studio's older siblings.

Birthdays always bring back old memories, breaths full of melancholy and the review of the most hilarious anecdotes, which have already been told a thousand times, but never lose their fun.

This Friday, August 9, the most watched morning show on Cordoba television celebrates 20 years since its first broadcast. Although the world has changed by leaps and bounds, Jorge Cuadrado, Alejandra Bellini, Roberto Battaglino, Manuel Sánchez and Mariano Cardarelli continue to pursue the same goal: to tell stories.

For many viewers, the classic encore of the show is an internalized time marker to activate the morning. However, for Martín Girardi and his production colleagues, the day begins two to three hours earlier. Carolina Baima, Belén López Mensaque, Roberto Masramón and Mirco Brklacic activate the program grid from four in the morning and contact their hosts around 5:30.

Journalists wake up between 5 and 5:15 a.m. and arrive at the El Doce dressing rooms between 6 and 6:30 a.m. “We have a companion game for each of us. After the pandemic, we found ourselves with this custom because everyone has their own rhythm and their own herb. Mate is the best companion,” says Mariano Cardarelli in dialogue with The voice“Mate is drunk bitter and at 75 degrees,” Roberto Battaglino states bluntly.

Emotion on the surface

While the communicator puts the water in the thermos, Alejandra Bellini leaves her skin in the hands of the makeup artist, without letting go of her thermal glass of coffee. “First, coffee to wake up; and then, the companion for the whole program. “I arrive here and I have a whole routine until we start this transformation to look awake,” she reveals graciously.

The journalist, along with presenter Jorge Cuadrado and news director Viviana Gianinetto, are the original members who are still on board. To Cordoba.

“From that time, there are few of us. When the network called us to make us this proposal, we joined and it was a pleasure. It took 20 years to get up at 4 in the morning with a great production team. Many people have passed through here. It is an unforgettable experience. The truth is that I find it hard to let go,” says the historic producer of To Cordoba.

A huge production team

A few minutes before 7:00, the control room is at its best. The production team takes its place at one of the two rows of desks, located in front of several screens and the classic “Aire” clock in bright red. The camera director, Martín Post, does not lose sight of his roommates, Daniel Cuello, Lucas Chattas and Jorge De Philippis, who are in charge of capturing a good image of the journalists.

José “Pepe” Stoppello is in charge of ensuring the sound quality, while Maxi López and Claudio Tombessi are in charge of the broadcast and electronic art. Jorge Orellano is responsible for the switch; Carlos Luna, from the technical part, and Adrián Alassia, from the bands.

For their part, “Colo” Figueroa, Daniel Zacarías, Ezequiel Zambrano and Ricardo Geysels are waiting for the necessary material to be assembled, and Nicolás Cortez remains attentive to the commercial management of the program.

Each of them is what allows communicators to inform, accompany and entertain the inhabitants of Córdoba from a very young age.

Your work is as valuable as the responsibility that comes with your position. Over the years, the cogs of teamwork become oiled and work as a whole.

The importance of telling local stories

To Cordoba It is a dynamic, informative and entertaining program, sometimes more formal, other times less structured. Off the air, it is the same. The contact with the public, The Good Day Network, the cell phones of Juan Pablo Lavisse and “Luchi” Ybañez, Jorge's Chistonto and the interviews, shape the energy of the studio and give personality to this television product in production for 20 years.

During all this time, media and journalism have undergone countless technological, cultural, social, economic and political changes. But for Alejandra, Jorge, Mariano, Manuel and Roberto, the goals and challenges of their daily work remain the same.

“I have never set myself any deadline goals, but I wake up every day wanting to see if I can do something different, something new or something different. In this, I do not feel conservative at all. That is why the challenges are happening day after day,” Cuadrado emphasizes, while recognizing “the immense upheaval” that traditional television continues to experience in the face of the arrival of new formats, such as streaming.

“Being able to tell stories is the most beautiful, the most interesting and always changing thing,” says Bellini; and Cardarelli adds: “The main challenge is to be able to think about the different formats. What we do for TV also has its touch in the networks and good writing on the web. The essential thing is to tell local stories that reach the multiplatform.”

When interviewees reflect on what motivates them to get up so early every day, do the show and bring journalism to life, they all agree: their audience.

“I am very pleased with people's feedback. What they tell you in the supermarket or on the street. People have a lot of affection for this program. When in college you are taught that the means are to inform, to train and to learn, there is also the other part, which is that of accompaniment, that of affection, and that cannot be taught, and I have learned a lot from this program”, Jorge emphasizes.

“In the last 20 years, my life has changed completely. I started as a girl who was beginning to discover what journalism was; and today I already have a career, a family. This place has given me friends for life,” Alejandra says enthusiastically.

“I enjoy the early morning program. I like having fun with the kids and accompanying people home because To Cordoba It becomes that. “We are part of the family, whether you watch us for two hours or fifteen minutes,” acknowledges “Nolo.”

“We were the first TV news program that could manage all the digital messages on air. This program went from being read on paper and on the phone to trending on Twitter,” adds Mariano.