The secrets of a former Newsnight producer who found her way to Buckingham Palace
'A cracking read' Lorraine Kelly
âRivetingâ Sunday Telegraph
âBehind every great interview is a great booker â Sam McAlister is one of the unsung heroes of television newsâ Piers Morgan
Sam McAlister is the woman who clinched the 2019 interview with Prince Andrew, described as âa plane crashing into an oil tanker, causing a tsunami, triggering a nuclear explosionâ. She is many things beside: the first in her family to go to university; a trained barrister; a single mum; a master of persuasion. In her former BBC colleaguesâ words, she was the âbooker extraordinaireâ, responsible for many of Newsnightâs exclusives over the past decade, including Stormy Daniels, Sean Spicer, Brigitte HĂśss, Steven Seagal, Mel Greig and Julian Assange.
After twelve years producing content for Newsnight, McAlister reflects with candour on her experience, sharing not just the secrets of how the best news gets made, but also the changes to the BBC, the future of âmainstream mediaâ in the age of clickbait and the role of power and privilege in shaping our media landscape.
Now a major motion picture featuring Gillian Anderson, Billie Piper, Keeley Hawes and Rufus Sewell, Scoops is a backstage pass to the most unforgettable journalism of our times.