Scoops: Behind the Scenes of the BBC’s Most Shocking Interviews with Sam McAlister

**Please note this event has been rescheduled from Monday 19 September to Monday 17 October**

Sam McAlister is the producer responsible for some of the biggest scoops in broadcasting. To mark the publication of her new book Scoops: Behind the Scenes of the BBC’s Most Shocking Interviews, former Newsnight producer and 2021 WFTV Award winner Sam McAlister will be in conversation with WFTV’s CEO Katie Bailiff.

Sam McAlister is the woman who clinched the 2019 TV interview with Prince Andrew described as ‘a plane crashing into an oil tanker, causing a tsunami, triggering a nuclear explosion’. To her former BBC colleagues she was the ‘booker extraordinaire,’ responsible for securing many of Newsnight’s exclusive interviews over the past decade including Stormy Daniels, Sean Spicer, Brigitte Höss, Steven Seagal, Mel Greig and Julian Assange.

In this conversation with WFTV CEO Katie Bailiff, Sam will discuss the story behind that interview and the secrets of her trade, plus her personal story as the first in her family to go to university, a trained barrister and a single mum, who against the odds, proved her worth in a fast-paced, hard-hitting TV newsroom.

After 12 years producing content for Newsnight, McAlister reflects with candour on her experience, sharing not just how the news gets made, but also changes at the BBC, the future of ‘mainstream media’ in the age of clickbait and the role of power and privilege in shaping our media landscape.

Scoops: Behind the Scenes of the BBC’s Most Shocking Interviews is available from Waterstones, Amazon and all good bookshops.

Event Schedule:

17:55: Please join the webinar waiting room

18:00: Event begins

18:05: Host-led discussion with Sam McAlister

18:45: Audience Q&A

19:00: Finish

Sam McAlister was the interviews producer on BBC Newsnight for 10 years, securing head-to-head interviews with Silicon Valley CEOs, world leaders and Hollywood stars. A former barrister, she turned to journalism after a successful career in criminal law and has since negotiated with everyone from Buckingham Palace to the White House, Facebook to Tesla.

Working in a largely unseen role, Sam undertook the delicate negotiations that underpin some of the biggest exclusive interviews in British news. From the initial approaches through research and up to the filming of the piece, she built and maintained relationships with subjects and their representatives whilst retaining journalistic integrity and independence.

Exclusives Sam has secured include interviews with Sheryl Sandberg, Justin Trudeau, Bill Clinton, James Comey, Elon Musk, Benjamin Netanyahu, Eric Schmidt and Prince Albert of Monaco. She has received a BAFTA-nomination and an award for Women in Film and TV for her work with BBC Newsnight. She lives in London.

This event is for existing WFTV members only.

If you are not a member and would like to join, membership costs just £100 + VAT/yr , please click here or email admin@wftv.org.uk

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Cancellation Policy

Due to limited capacity, we request that if you are unable to attend this event to please cancel your ticket at least 24 hours before the event. To cancel your ticket, please contact the WFTV team on admin@wftv.org.uk or 020 287 1400.