Why Is This Lying Bastard Lying to Me?: Searching for the Truth on Political TV

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It is a key part of a democracy and the BBC has pretty much thrown it away,” he said. “They seem to have lost a lot of those people, as well their faith in the idea. They don’t believe viewers want it.”

In 2021, HarperCollins secured Burley's book, Why is This Lying Bastard Lying to Me?, due to be published in February 2023. In it, he humorously describes his experiences with British politicians and focuses on 12 political interviews over a 25-year period. [10] Editorial director Joel Simons won the UK andCommonwealth rights, excluding Canada,from Martin Redfern at Northbank Talent Management. The book is due to be published in February 2023. If Marr was pretending to be cross, the BBC board member Robbie Gibb wasn’t faking it. On launch day the Times wanted his take on a story from my book. This was what the kids call awks. Robbie had been my boss at the BBC. The story, that on the day after the Brexit vote he had told me to forget about the Leave campaign’s dodgy claims, including that pledge on the bus, and move on, was not a good look. So when Robbie arrived at Hatchards he was peeved but, after a pointed aside about how he’d helped get me into the BBC (“No good deed goes unpunished”) was soon over it. He spent the rest of the evening having fun with his friend in political comms, the equally Marmite Seumas Milne from Team Corbyn. Unlikely comrades. It was nice to see them both. a b Blanchard, Paul (18 February 2016). "Rob Burley". Media Masters (Podcast) . Retrieved 18 March 2022. Brexitcast was renamed Newscast after the United Kingdom's exit from the European Union on 31 January 2020. The final edition of Brexitcast was released on 1 February 2020, with the first edition of Newscast airing on 6 February.Rob Burley has prepared, practised and helped prosecute political interviews with eight prime ministers over more than twenty-five years, working alongside the biggest names in television. This book is his love letter to the political interview and, with the help of exclusive conversations with TV giants from Jeremy Paxman and Andrew Neil to Andrew Marr and Emily Maitlis, will take you inside the process like never before.

John Humphrys learnt the consequences of questioning liberal pieties after making a programme interrogating welfare Through the lens of 12 key political interviews over the past 25 years, Burley humorously explores his unique experiences with the top country’s politicians. From Thatcher to Johnson, with Corbyn and Cameron in between, Burley "explores the state of democracy and accountability in a post-truth era, where voters now expect dishonesty from their leaders".

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Rob Burley was for many years the man responsible for the live music at the end of The Andrew Marr Show, but don’t hold that against him. Apart from orchestrating the awkwardness of cabinet ministers nodding along to the oboe-botherer of the week, he has had a ringside seat for some of the biggest political interviews for more than a quarter of a century. Dolan – by virtue of being a young, female, Irish author – is often compared to Sally Rooney. Both novelists write about the personal relationships of twenty-somethings in contemporary Dublin, but Dolan’s writing feels less pored over, which makes for a zippier read, although one where the characters feel almost too zeitgeisty to be real. Archie is in many ways a formulaic corporate lawyer, taking drugs on weekdays and playing tennis against his firm’s partners at weekends – that he is queer and open-hearted saves him from becoming a caricature. Dolan is known for her humour and light touch, but here it is the more introspective moments – such as when Celine’s sister Phoebe suggests that her habit of playing the piano in her head is a means of dissociation – that stand out. Burley agrees that viewers’ trust has been shaken by the recent inquiry prompting the departure of BBC chairman Richard Sharp, the Tory party donor linked to organising a loan for Johnson, especially when taken together with Gibb’s seat on the board and Davie’s historic involvement with the local Conservative party politics. But he said he sees it as a problem with perception rather than a real danger.

He began his career as a researcher for the Labour Party member of Parliament Paul Flynn. He joined ITV in 1996 and rose to become editor of its political shows The Sunday Edition and Jonathan Dimbleby. He also worked on Tonight, hosted by Trevor McDonald. [2] He joined the BBC in 2008 [4] and became executive editor of Question Time, deputy editor of Newsnight and assistant editor of BBC Breakfast. In 2018, he became the BBC's editor of live political programmes, [5] succeeding Robbie Gibb. The role was based in Westminster and led Burley to take responsibility for the programmes Daily Politics, Sunday Politics, This Week, The Westminster Hour and Newswatch. [6] When Daily Politics ended in 2018, Burley became editor of Politics Live, and later editor of The Andrew Neil Show and executive producer of the podcast Brexitcast on television. Wilson, Amy (15 February 2018). "Rob Burley named Editor of Live Political Programmes at the BBC". ResponseSource . Retrieved 7 December 2019. In this unique book Rob Burley sets out to explore the state of democracy and accountability in an era when voters have come to expect untruthfulness from their leaders. Taking us inside the negotiations, intense preparations and tense encounters between heavyweight interviewers and politicians, Burley reveals why those who lead us are so reluctant to speak the truth and how they try to – and often succeed in – getting away with it. The attitude of BBC leadership and Tim Davie reminded me of what happened with Andrew. He had his new BBC Wednesday evening political show established – a longform interview – which they then axed and instead offered him some sort of unfixed, occasional slot.

Burley, who is now a producer at Sky News and makes interview shows fronted by its political editor, Beth Rigby, said his book was intended to entertain, while also “making the argument about the value of lengthier interviews”. The first episode of Politics Live generated criticism online because it featured a panel of five women. Burley said he had "zero shame" about the episode and that they had "invited people and they said yes and then we realised our best line-up was all female". [7] a b c Walker, James (28 January 2019). "BBC Politics Live boss Rob Burley says balancing every show across political parties would be 'really boring' ". Press Gazette . Retrieved 7 December 2019. Why Is This Lying Bastard Lying to Me? – a question famously asked by master TV inquisitor Jeremy Paxman – is a history of thirty years in British politics viewed through the prism of political television, from Thatcher’s fall to the crash and burn of Liz Truss via the Iraq War, austerity, Brexit and Partygate. Rob Burley’s deliciously irreverent insider’s account of a career spent trying to get straight answers from politicians offers a unique insight into the British political class and their complicated relationship with the truth. Clearly things have been very badly handled,” said Burley. “They’ve lost a lot of good political presenters. I don’t know if there is much BBC expertise along those lines left in the building. The funding cuts are real and hard decisions have to be made, but Tim Davie doesn’t really understand journalism, in my view, and so has waved through lots of these cuts.