Airhead: The Imperfect Art of Making News by Emily Maitlis

Author: Emily Maitlis

Title: Airhead: The Imperfect Art of Making News

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 2019

Pages: 400

Genre: autobiography

     If you think you know the news, think again. In this behind-the-scenes, no holds barred account of life in the seconds before, during, and after going on air, Emily Maitlis discloses the wrangling, bust-ups, blow-ups, pleading, last-second script-shreddings, scoops, walk-outs and unexpected love-ins that we never see on-screen. Covering everything from the Paris terror attacks to Grenfell, #MeToo to President Clinton's love affairs, Boris Johnson, goat yoga, and interviews with everyone from Emma Thompson and Tony Blair to Donald Trump and Russell Brand, Airhead is a brilliant expose of the moments that never make the news.

     I wonder how often we actually give thought to the people who tell us the news on a daily basis. We concentrate on what they have to tell us the big events of the day or week. For many, these are the people that give them access to the outside world beyond that of their hometowns, county borders, or in fact their neighboring countries. New readers and reports are probably some of the most consistent people that are in our lives. However, at the end of the day who are these people to us, we pick our chosen station and stick with them. The thing is how often in life do we give our full trust to someone we don't know. After all, you would believe some random stranger who walked up to you in the street and started telling you bombs were falling half a world away. And what happens when the camera lights switch off how do those stories affect these women and men. Because when you really think about it have you ever seen a reporter shed a tear on BBC or CNN?

       Maitlis has been on the news for most of my adult life. She is one of those staples that you come to expect. Turn on the tv at a certain point and there she will be. But like many of her colleagues, she was just the face on the news. Someone I have come to rely on but what does that really mean. In a world where there is so much interconnectivity, I realized I follow very few reporters on social media. I know so little about these people. Do we in fact not need to know a little about who these people are to be able to believe them on a daily basis. After all, a great many people trust Sir David Attenborough without knowing his back story. Do we, in fact, separate the person from the job and one thing has no bearing on the other. So a little while ago a friend asked me if I had seen this book. Maybe this was my chance to get to know the person behind headlines or at the very least know just how she felt about some of those very well know people she has sat across the table from. A couple of which came right to the forefront of my mind. 

     The book is broken down into very short chapters which makes this a very easy book to get into. They kind of feel like their own little news reports at the end of each you expect to hear her sign off before we cut back to someone in the studio. To me, I think it gets across a great deal of what she is trying to convey through this book. All we ever are going to get are these quick snapshots of news. The cycle these days moves far too quick for anything else. So what are we getting then, this is not a book that is going to delve deep into the life and times of Emily Matlis. What it does do is show not only the quick pace at which our nightly news is churned out but also its volatile nature. What is true one day may not be the next. And in a world where politics would seem to have strayed far more into the world of entertainment and the truth is what they decide it to be she shows us just how difficult it is for reporters.  Even the best at their jobs the ones that want to tell the truth of a thing struggle to be able to do so in this flurry of fictionalized truths and grown adults shouting like children having a tantrum in aisle 3 of your local Tescos extra.  

     It is safe to say that Maitlis has interviewed some of the most divisive people of our times. And through this book what we get is brief glimpses into how these moments break down behind the camera. What if for a short moment these people were truly like before the lights come up. For me, it was interesting to see how they stacked up against my perception of them. After all, no one is 100 percent who we believe them to be. And when all is said and done who we believe to be good or bad more often than not comes down to which side of the political divide we fall on.  So as a reporter we get to witness her having to set aside her own views in the pursuit of the story. This may sound a little dishonest but surely a report must try their hardest not to taint the story one way or another. Otherwise, the truth of it all will get lost along the way. It is also worth noting how she handles these very powerful men who not only are not used to having to deal with things they dislike. But also having to answer to a woman some of which seem to struggle with the concept a little more than others. 

     For me, this was a greatly enjoyable book. I got in some ways to learn a bit more about her. To see the ups and downs of the job. How it is one of those jobs that require your complete commitment. If you blink for even a second the interviewee can take complete control rather than what a skilled report does which is to allow them to believe they are all the while being guided to the one place they more than likely didn't want to talk about. This was a book that was just as enlightening as it was funny. And I think I probably laughed more than I thought I was going to. All in all, this is a great book to jump into. You will definitely learn a little about how the news and interviews are put together all the while having an enjoyable time along the way.