How to Pitch TV Journalists: A Day in the Life of a GB News Senior Producer
Keith Bays is a senior producer and political journalist at GB News.
Keith Bays’ name may not ring a bell to all of you reading this edition but there’s a good chance you’ve heard him! The GB News reporter and producer recently became the talk of the town for the direct way he asks questions to ministers entering and exiting No10 during the Labour leadership crisis.
A montage of him firing questions at the Government’s (former) top team as they filed out of a Cabinet meeting recently featured on the BBC’s Have I Got News For You.
A bit like me, Keith wears two hats. He is a senior producer and a political reporter. He also happens to be one of the most supportive journalists in the industry.
Keith, what does a day in your life as a senior producer look like? This is a really hard question for me to answer as my role at GB News encompasses a range of jobs. I wouldn’t say I’m a conventional senior producer, and my weeks vary greatly from one to the next.
Most weeks, I’ll work on planning specials such as our recent special in Crowborough for Patrick Christys’. show This involves conducting recces, guesting, securing will-says, organising hit times with shows, working with security and operations on logistics, making sure we have balance and a range of views for best practice and compliance and ensuring everything is checked from a legal point of view.
I also chair a pre-production meeting, and on the occasions I am not field producing the specials, I will write up comprehensive handover documents for the producers. However, most of the time I will field produce the specials. Plus, I am in the process of finishing the planning for GB News’ 5th birthday special on August 6, in which we will be in locations such as Aberdeen, Durham and Leeds.
I sit within the newsdesk at GB News, so I will fulfil many of our pool obligations. E.g. I will interview politicians such as Kemi Badenoch, Sir Ed Davey and Nigel Farage for the broadcast pool. Those interviews can be used by all major broadcasters. This involves me, at times, travelling the country, attending visits with those politicians and interviewing them. Asking both questions I've written and that other broadcasters set into our pool chat.
I also regularly shout at the Cabinet on a Tuesday and the Prime Minister on a Wednesday. More on that later. I attend press conferences and ask questions for GB News on TV. This allows me to scrutinise politicians on behalf of the channel and its viewers, and it’s a great experience for me personally doing this live on national TV.
And I am sent out, when required, to vox-pop the public. This lets me put questions to the public to gauge their response; we can then clip this up and use it in our shows. I also write both analysis pieces and news reports for the channel, and I source content such as op-eds for GB News membership.
Additionally, I will put together assets, e.g. clips/images and then write a script for GB News Originals on YouTube. I then record those to use across all social media platforms. I interview guests and politicians for GB News quite often for our various social media platforms. I most recently did this at a very quiet CPAC GB earlier this month.
I also work at all party conferences for GB News, such as ARC, CPAC GB, as well as all of the political party conferences and the TUC, plus selected special events.
And there’s more! I also take my journalist hat off to plan the GB News drinks party at the Conservative conference, the reception at Reform’s conference and even the GB News staff Christmas party. My fabulous colleague Sophie Ashford organises the GB News Labour drinks event and does a superb job.
As well as all of that, I can write scripts for TV, output shows in the gallery and edit using software such as Premiere Pro. So, when you work at a modern national news channel these days, you have to be adaptable and multi-skilled to be successful, in my view.
No week is the same in my job and they are always busy weeks.
What is the best way to pitch a broadcaster? I would say always pitch the newsdesk, planning teams, editors and bookers. They all have a great degree of editorial decision-making. So rather than waste time, I’d spend time pitching those who can say yes or no.
What makes a great TV spokesperson? Knowledge is power. If someone is clearly knowledgeable about a topic and can articulate that in a concise way, then that for me is a winning recipe.
Credibility is also important. If someone has experience in a relevant field, has held high office or has skin in the game, that’s what I am looking for. It’s important that, when possible, we provide the best guests for our audience to listen to. Their insights can be incredibly valuable.
Do you want to see experts recording their own video and sending that over? Is that useful to you? If so, what would you want this to look like for TV? Not really. We want guests to come on live TV, ideally in the studio, if not via Zoom. We don’t want presenters throwing to guests doing their own pre-records; that would be strange. Then you have to potentially edit that and check it legally - lots of unnecessary work for a worse outcome/product.
I can see an argument for guests or experts recording such things for digital, potentially, but not for TV.
Quick fire…
You’ve become a bit known for shouting at politicians as they walk into Downing Street… What’s that experience like? I enjoy the experience; it’s great. I get paid to shout at the Prime Minister and the Cabinet most weeks. I am not short on confidence, so shouting questions has never bothered me in the slightest.
It’s an important job holding power to account. Many broadcasters take those shots live of the Cabinet arrivals and departures, and the PM departing Number 10 for the Commons on a Wednesday, so the public have the opportunity to see their elected officials have their feet held firmly to the fire. Plus, the picture would be boring if there were no shouts.
Since I have done it, I have been nicknamed the new Gobby and had a piece written in The Telegraph’s Peterborough Diary by GB News Political Editor, Chris Hope, who is one of my mentors alongside editorial director Mick Booker, former editor of the Sunday Express. I’ve also featured twice on Have I Got News for You, a real highlight for me.
But it was when the new Cabinet was appointed that I realised there was a different side to it all. Many of the people I had spent two years shouting at had gone, many to the backbenches. I spoke over WhatsApp with one now former Secretary of State to say I would miss my shout exchanges with them, to which they replied, “I’ll miss you too” - a very rare, sweet moment in what is the rough and tumble of British politics.
Morning show or evening bulletin? I have to say I love our morning show, GB News Breakfast. It is a multiple TRIC Award-winning show, with great presenters like Ellie Costello, Stephen Dixon, Anne Diamond and Eamonn Holmes, and the production team are a lovely bunch who work incredibly hard and get up early every morning. That would be my pick. Figures are always great.
Breaking news or planned features? It has to be breaking news. There’s nothing like it. It’s a buzz. It’s exciting and everyone chips in, goes the extra mile and raises their game. Sometimes, if it’s huge breaking news, the whole atmosphere in the newsroom changes to all hands on deck. It’s great to be a part of. Although there are very sad occasions, such as the passing of Queen Elizabeth II. Many colleagues were emotional that day.
I instantly delete an email if… It goes on way too much and is War and Peace. The answers to my questions today may seem somewhat hypocritical but when anyone emails me, I prefer they get to the point. I’m looking for short and sweet, not a 4,000-word essay. You’ve seen my job list above - I just don’t have the time to read long emails like that.
Remember folks, keep this just between us! We’re off the record.
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