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

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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. The Online Safety Bill, now going through the Lords, will make all this far worse by threatening huge fines for Silicon Valley firms that publish anything deemed to be “harmful” and visible to children. What does this mean? It’s unclear: so the censorship bots will work overdrive just to be safe. Sir Keir Starmer may tighten things further as prime minister, forcing newspapers to accept state regulation. Those who refuse would be forced to pay the fee of anyone who sues, win or lose. 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. The producer who was, until recently, at the heart of the BBC’s political coverage has criticised director general Tim Davie’s failure to “really understand journalism” and lamented fresh threats to the standard of the broadcaster’s current affairs analysis. 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.

Kakar, Arun (14 February 2018). "Andrew Marr editor to head up live political programmes at BBC as Victoria Derbyshire editor leaves for Channel 4 Dispatches". Press Gazette . Retrieved 7 December 2019. Burley’s candid new book Why is This Lying Bastard Lying to Me? revealed last week that BBC board member Robbie Gibb had told him to step away from investigating the promises made to the electorate by Brexiters. At the same time, many of those politicians who are crying about the loss of local radio journalists are the same people who pushed for the original BBC funding cuts in parliament.” Lyons, Kate (4 September 2018). " 'Zero shame': Politics Live editor defends all-female line-up on new BBC show". The Guardian . Retrieved 7 December 2019.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.” HarperCollins has scooped Why is This Lying Bastard Lying to Me?,an insider account and debut by former BBC political programming editor Rob Burley. Why is this lying bastard lying to me? That’s the question Jeremy Paxman famously asked when trying to pin down slippery politicians, and it’s the title of Rob Burley’s new book, published on 11 May. With 25 years of experience working with the great political interviewers of our age – from Andrew Neil to Emily Maitlis, and Andrew Marr to Beth Rigby – he joins Rachel Cunliffe to dissect what makes a great TV political interview, and why scrutiny of our leaders is more important now than ever. 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] Tobitt, Charlotte (19 March 2021). "Some 550 BBC jobs closed or moved as news shifts away from London". Press Gazette . Retrieved 19 March 2021.

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. On the claim, detailed in his book, that Gibb, a No 10 aide to Theresa May, had tried to divert him from investigating the government’s claims about the financial benefits of Brexit, Burley added: “I was quite straight about it in the book, and I don’t believe that Robbie has contradicted my version. In fact, he has repeated his line that it was important to ‘move on’ and not to just re-litigate Brexit.” At the time of the referendum Gibb was editor of the BBC’s live politics programmes. Why Is This Lying Bastard Lying to Me?: 25 Years of Searching for the Truth on Political TV ( HarperCollins, 2023) ISBN 978-0008542481 In 2022, Burley joined Global as executive editor of Andrew Marr's LBC programme Tonight with Andrew Marr. [11] Burley grew up in the 1970s and 1980s and was interested in politics from a young age. He obtained a degree in American studies from the University of Nottingham. [2]Farber, Alex (24 February 2022). "Rob Burley reunited with Andrew Marr at LBC". Broadcast . Retrieved 28 February 2022.

I’ve spent more than 25 years behind the camera, so it felt weird to find myself sitting on Good Morning Britain’s big glossy set with Susanna Reid and Adil Ray. I was there to promote Why Is This Lying Bastard Lying to Me?, my slightly sweary part-history, part-memoir chronicling the televised 60-year tussle between broadcasters and politicians. Ten years ago, John Humphrys made a documentary about the welfare state for BBC2. When he was growing up in Cardiff, he said, hardly anyone was on benefits. Now, vast numbers are. Why? What had gone wrong? A good question – but, as he found out, a suicidally dangerous one for any BBC journalist to ask. He was hauled in front of a BBC star chamber, accused of supporting Tory policy, then found guilty of breaching guidelines on impartiality and accuracy. I spoke to him about it afterwards: his lesson, he said, was never to do something like that again. 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. 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. 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.Why Is This Lying Bastard Lying To Me? – a question famously asked by grand inquisitor Jeremy Paxman – is Rob Burley’s deliciously irreverent and gossipy insider’s account of 25 years working at the very top of British political television – and the unique insight he’s gained on the country’s politicians on the way. Gibb’s views were, in fact, ignored, Burley concedes, and the Vote Leave battle bus claim was investigated by the BBC. “Generally, I don’t believe the BBC has a big problem with bias: although there is always potentially an ‘incumbency bias’, in favour of the government, which you have to guard against. Any politician who is in charge has quite a lot of leverage, with allowing access and setting the agenda.” 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”. 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] Wilson, Amy (15 February 2018). "Rob Burley named Editor of Live Political Programmes at the BBC". ResponseSource . Retrieved 7 December 2019.