Emily Maitlis' 'Airhead' Challenges Everything We Thought About the News

 For the past couple of weeks I have had the delightful experience of reading Emily Maitlis' book 'Airhead'. I'm a second year at university, and I'm starting to think about working in television - this collection of stories about her interviews that have gone slightly wrong or miraculously right, written with satire and honesty that drips like honey, has convinced me of the appeal of working behind the scenes.

Emily Maitlis, reporter and journalist for BBC Newnight, gives the backstory to some of her most famous interviews - Donald Trump, David Attenborough, Theresa May and more. She reflects on the mistakes she made with humility and honesty, and with the eagle eye of hindsight kicks herself for missed opportunities. 

However, despite the name 'Airhead' and the suggestion that this is a book all about mistakes, you come away with the impression that Maitlis is an excellent reporter. As someone who generally flinches from conflict, I was astounded and impressed by Emily's enjoyment at digging a bit deeper and seeing her interviewee squirm. My takeaway is that respect is often won when you can hold you own, and I realised that my fear of conflict perhaps comes from the expectation that you should remain silent as a young woman. I don't need to be afraid of making someone uncomfortable, if I'm going to come away from that exchange with something important. 

I thoroughly enjoyed it - if you want to stick a toe into current affairs, this is the book for it. She doesn't recount the boring and factual elements of a story, but focuses on the people who make it happen - the mysterious villain, the broken woman who rises from the ashes, the indecisive leader who doesn't get her hands dirty, the man who claims to have it all and people believe him. You're desperate to see her crack open their shells and reveal the true person inside, which she does chapter after chapter. 

Through it all, you get the running commentary inside her head - she's at breakfast, she's woken with a shock in the night, she's on a plane with a vodka, she's volunteering at the scene, she hands out gifts to refugees. I thought often about the Gilmore Girls scene between Rory and Logan, where she insists that journalists don't participate, right before Logan proves her wrong and she jumps from a poorly designed platform in a ballgown, umbrella in hand. That is Emily Maitlis throughout - at the heart of the story, unafraid to leap in and ask the right questions at the right time. 

Emily Maitlis has emerged as a hero of mine, who's picture will sit on my vision board next to Elle Woods, Pocahontas, Malala Yousafsi and Taylor Swift - women who have shaped me and women I intend to emulate.

Ellie-Jean