Airhead: The Imperfect Art of Making News

It helps if you're a Newsnight viewer to get the most from this book. Much of the content tells the behind the scenes stories and reflections of some of Emily Maitlis's big interviews, and without seeing those, a lot of the book simply loses impact. She writes really well - clear, engaging, passionate, self-critical, and it makes you realise just how many big names she has met and interviewed in her career at the BBC. Something of a news junkie and, one suspects, a workaholic, Maitlis keeps her own story and that of her family firmly in the background, but she writes with painful honesty about the awfulness of being stalked and highlights the inadequacies of the law to protect people from such abuse.There are dud spots along the way - the chapter on appearing in an Alan Partridge sketch adds little to the book other than to show she's a big fan, but the humour feels forced compared to the overall tone of the book where she is reflective and highly critical of her own interviewing at times. Stories here reveal mistakes made in the bubble of metropolitan journalism that seemed like good ideas at the time: putting the candidates for the Conservative leadership debate on bar stools rather than chairs, making them all look like members of a boy band; the absurd interview with DrillMinister (like something from Not The Nine O'Clock News it was so awful), and the incoherent ramblings of the Dalai Lama that, in print, look slightly bonkers. Her defining interview with Prince Andrew, strangely, is underplayed for the significance it had in making his role in public life largely untenable, and makes for a slightly underwhelming finish to an otherwise excellent and revealing read about life in broadcast journalism. Recommended.

Had already read Scoops by Sam Malister so this seemed a natural progression. Emily portrays the background to some of her most high profile interviews. A fascinating read.

First I will own up to loving this book, Each chapter is a seprate story they do link in but can also be read in any order but front to back is best obviously. Each chapter is unique and has humour even when sometimes world changing.I'm guess this is an incredibly good time to be a journalist and I think Emily is one of the best and she has a way of finding the right questions at the right time obviously not by accident well most of the time anyway. In her book you will hear stories of powerful people world changing and European changing and UK madness plus the names of a certain guy from the US who is good at making out lies are not only OK but in his opinion the truth, o & there's Piers Morgan she doesn't have it all so great. (LOL) . Thinking of Piers there is also a chapter when Emily gets a part in Alan Partridge latest serious.I think you will love this book I did and get a glimpse of what happened behind the scenes of the biggest stories of the last few years and the now historical interview with Prince Andrew is he still a Prince?.

Such a fantastic book. Emily is an absolute credit to us, insanely talented at what she does. Whilst she’s obviously extremely intelligent, the book is not written in a pompous way, it’s an easy read with short chapters, each detailing a different interview with all the prep and decision making involved beforehand, and the reaction afterwards. Genuinely, so fascinating. I have googled so many of these interviews to watch them, they take on a completely different meaning once you know the background and circumstance to each one. Bloomin brilliant!

Well known around TV as 'The Pointless Princess ' Emily delivers more of the same, this time on the printed page. Confirms and re confirms her self important status as one of the media elite...exactly the breed that no longer connects with the real world of voters. Yes young voters- I know-but with 70% or so of US citizens relying on social media and no longer TV for news- the old teams are sadly less and less attended too. Of course we miss their skills-- with 'oh so earnest and condescending pre-planning of balanced questions.' About the only re-hashed interview ( of an entire book of re-hashed interviews) that works well is the one on Piers Morgan...where she is usefully informative. Of course her insistence that it's the 'quality of the content that counts' is somewhat tempered by 'thank god this was radio-I looked terrible.' Fairness of course is vital in 'her game' and with son number one -having had reasonable name checks early on...I was concerned that son number two had been left out...but no'- there he is valuably assisting his Mama in her Alan Partridge appearance. As they ask down in the murky world of media...'What's the difference between an Alan Partridge and an Emily Maitless? ... The answer being Partridge has a point and Emily doesn't. But then again...on TV she has to get the story over -background included in 2,3 or occasionally 7 minute bites...so the book could - should-provide us with a little more. In theory we should be missing a dimension by not 'seeing' the subject details on the TV screen...sadly these days the on-screen pictures are mostly of Emily and shots of the interviewee...so plus one-minus one...Worth reading one day if you've not got something better on the other shelf.

This reads (and indeed may well have been) a bit like a lot of short articles.However, it provides interesting insight into some of the processes and the people that Emily has encountered during her time as one of the BBC's top journalists.The style is very readable and the content thought provoking at times and just interesting at others.Worth a read, for sure.

I haven’t read it yet but I bought two copies for two of my male friends who both found it fascinating and very much enjoyed reading it.

Very good read

This book is well worth buying. It's not a classic autobiography, but short chapters on interesting interviews that she's done - giving you an insight into some fascinating personalities, and also what presenting news live to air is really like. She writes so well that every page turns effortlessly into the next, and I stayed reading late into the night - several times. She's funny, highly intelligent, wise and - unusually for an autobiographical work - self-deprecating. I came away very entertained and liking her a lot.

what a great read.. different perspective on the biggest news stories of the decade.Not sure how I came to buy this book - but I highly recommend it.