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

Product Information

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. HarperCollins has scooped Why is This Lying Bastard Lying to Me?,an insider account and debut by former BBC political programming editor Rob Burley.

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. 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. Rob Burley (born 1969) is an English television producer, formerly the BBC's editor of live political programmes. He was the editor of The Andrew Marr Show, Politics Live, Newscast on television, Newswatch and The Westminster Hour. 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.Why Is This Lying Bastard Lying to Me?: 25 Years of Searching for the Truth on Political TV ( HarperCollins, 2023) ISBN 978-0008542481 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. 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. 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. 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.

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”. 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.In 2022, Burley joined Global as executive editor of Andrew Marr's LBC programme Tonight with Andrew Marr. [11]

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. 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]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". 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] 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.