Non-stop high on the scent of breaking news for Al Arabiya TV presenter

Naser El Tibi, business producer and presenter at Al Arabiya News Channel, loves the buzz of the newsroom - even if people don't always return his calls.

Naser El Tibi is a business news presenter at Al Arabiya. Charles Crowell / The National

A Naser El Tibi is a senior business producer and presenter at Al Arabiya News Channel. Here, he walks us through his day.

7.30-8am

I'm not an early riser. I don't really like getting up that early in the morning but that's what the job entails. I get up and get my first news while I am sipping on my espresso. There are three a day. I follow a few papers [on Twitter] and get the headlines quickly. I was always interested in news and current affairs, even as a kid. Then I get showered and dressed.

10am

I'm at the office. We have an editorial meeting with the whole team. The producers will be there at the office at 8.30-9am. They are screening all the wires for the news of the day. At the editorial meeting [we decide] what we are going to headline, what angles to tackle. It's never boring. Every day is a new day, you are following the story. I spent just under a year in banking, with Citibank, but I didn't find myself in banking. I joined [CNBC] in 2005 - always on TV, never in print. I like being especially on TV because I think I can get my point across well, explain myself well.

10.30am

We are back to our desks following up on our stories. Usually it's reading more on the background. So if there is a deal, we are going to try and find out the background of this deal, the background of the company, the parties involved. We try and get in touch with the people making the news. It's not that easy: it is difficult to get through to people and they [often] don't want to comment. We do go on television and people know us. At Arabiya we are well known and we have credibility. That's an advantage and a disadvantage.

12.30

Our first business news programme airs. We've [had] updates before that on the market. By [now] the day's work is well on track. We have a show at every half-past and it's a 30-minute show. We've got six business shows a day as well as market updates of three to four minutes within current affairs news segments. Depending on my rota for the day, I present a couple of those shows. I usually call my guests ahead of time so they know who is on with them and get answers to questions set up.

5pm

The day starts to wind down because most of our programmes are already aired.

7.30pm

If I am not doing the 7.30pm show I'm leaving the office. Newsrooms are … you are on a high for seven, eight hours non-stop. So when I go home it's unwinding, La-Z-Boy, TV - some comedy shows probably for an hour. Then I order in. I'm single and I don't cook so I usually order in.

11pm

When I am done with my TV, I go back on my iPad or laptop and then do some of my more in-depth reading, more lengthy research reports, economic reports, stuff like that.

1am

I'm asleep.

* Lianne Gutcher