SCOOPS

A former producer and booker for the BBC’s Newsnight takes us behind the camera.

In 2019, McAlister succeeded in booking an interview with Prince Andrew, which proved to be an unmitigated disaster for the bumbling interviewee. In her candid memoir, the author chronicles how she landed that interview and dishes about other big names she locked in during her tenure on the program. Known for her tenacity in securing talent, McAlister joined Newsnight in 2011, when Jeremy Paxman, known for his severe interrogations of politicians and other newsmakers, was still the presenter. Paxman left in 2014, and his replacements, Evan Davis and Emily Maitlis, employed a more discursive, conversational style. In this straightforward account, the author picks and chooses her material from an impressive roster of major figures, including Julian Assange, Sean Spicer, Amy Schumer (who turned out to be the worst interviewee), Stormy Daniels (the best), and James Comey, who “reeked of establishment and quiet power.” McAlister was also able to get a rare interview with the daughter of Auschwitz commander Rudolf Höss, “one of the foremost mass murderers in history.” Throughout the text, the author shares tricks of the trade about producing short, intricately organized segments and reveals some of the resentments among the staff toward the presenters and their extravagance. The grotesque era of Donald Trump, she writes, was “an absolute boon for news,” and she was able to book interviews with many in his orbit. However, it was the sensational Prince Andrew interview, offered up blithely by the prince’s PR crew without any sense of legal implications, that put McAlister’s name on the map. She left the BBC shortly after the fallout, but her memories will appeal to anyone interested in the production of news programs and how big-name guests make it to the screen.

A seasoned journalist seizes her moment.