The Big Story
Ian Taylor
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Buy NowWhy I wrote this book
I wanted to have fun sharing the experiences of a career as a documentary film-maker in a humorous, satirical way but at the same time using investigative journalism as a device for keeping the reader turning the pages. I'm told the combination works. It's fiction of course but, even then, the least plausible aspects of the story are closely based on real events, witnessed by the author.
Synopsis
With the nation’s most respected broadcaster now exposed for cheating, The Big Story comes as a timely and highly topical satire on the television industry, where the words 'truth' and 'reality' can have quite different meanings. Written by an insider, it’s scurrilous, witty…and accurate (honest!).
A new editor has arrived at the BBC’s current affairs programme Worldweek with a brief to take it down market and up ratings. When he learns that one of his journalists has been abducted by rebels on a remote Philippine island, he sees an opportunity for a big story and despatches self-regarding reporter Damien Street, in the company of his ambitious researcher Olivia, to investigate. “D’you think Stanley went looking for Livingstone out of the goodness of his heart? No, mate. He went looking for Livingstone for a newspaper. For a story. And that’s what we’re going to do. Except we’re not just going to find Livingstone, we’re going to bring him back.”
But he doesn’t count on the competition from freelance reporter Gerry Harris, who’s sold the same idea to Channel 4… and who’s not above a little deception.
The Big Story takes the lid off the world of factual programme-making in a fast-paced and witty satire. It’s a tale of truth, temptation and the journalist’s eternal willingness to compromise principle in pursuit of a good story. Never let the facts get in the way.
Reviews
Readers’ Review Magazine: "It’s a page-turner and I will look out for Taylor’s next novel."
Amazon.co.uk review: "I very much enjoyed this excellent 'Big Story'. Raced through it wanting the next twist all the time and thoroughly appreciated all the vignettes it gives us of the TV world. Shades of Evelyn Waugh everywhere, I thought, though funnier and more inventive. A very enjoyable experience!"
About the Author
Ian Taylor is an award-winning director of numerous documentaries and documentary series together with contributions to the current affairs programmes Newsnight, Panorama and Dispatches. In a distinguished career he has seen his work broadcast on all the British terrestrial channels and rebroadcast around the world. His stories have taken him to over sixty countries. It is from that wealth of first-hand experience that the story in this novel is drawn.
Book info
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Format
Paperback
220 pages pages
Author
Ian Taylor
Publisher
Matador
Publication date
10th December 2007
ISBN
9781906221294
