‘After 30 years on BBC Newsnight, the biggest mistake I always avoided’

Kirsty Wark has received the Bafta academy’s highest honour (Picture: Jeff Overs/BBC/PA Wire)

Newsnight legend Kirsty Wark has looked back on her TV legacy after being announced as the next recipient of the Bafta fellowship award.

The presenter and journalist, 70, joins the likes of Alfred Hitchcock, Steven Spielberg, Dame Judi Dench and Martin Scorsese in receiving the accolade, which she will be presented with at the Bafta TV awards on May 11.

On the day that she was announced as the person receiving the academy’s lifetime achievement accolade, she told Metro that it was a ‘huge surprise’ and a ‘great honour’.

Wark –who presented BBC’s Newsnight programme for 30 years until leaving last July – said that her career in live television has been ‘exhilarating’, having interviewed high-profile figures including Margaret Thatcher and Madonna.

Discussing her legendary interview style. the journalist –who was one of the first to arrive on the scene when Pan Am Flight 103 was blown up in the skies above Lockerbie in 1988 – shed light on a major mistake that she’s always managed to avoid.

‘My favourite interviews are when you allow people the dignity to say their points of view and you’re not being intrusive,’ she said.

The journalist presented Newsnight for 30 years (Picture: Jeff Overs/BBC) She joins Dame Judi Dench in receiving the accolade (Picture: WireImage) Pop star Madonna is interviewed by Kirsty on Newsnight in 2006 (Picture: PA)

‘The thing I hate most about presenters is when they grandstand.

‘In tricky situations I want to bring a compassion and a rigour. My role is to help people tell their stories.’

Wark explained how her job is ‘all about doing your homework’ with the producer, as figures like politicians will be reluctant to ‘tell you about the cuts they’ve made to a certain sector’.

‘You’ve really got to be prepared. The biggest disrespect you can ever do is to go into an interview and not be prepared,’ she continued.

Discussing her prestigious Bafta Fellowship award, she said: ‘I’d be surprised if this was an award you can get before you’re 50. I’m way over that now.

‘I’m still looking forward in my career, but I think this is one for looking back at the different things I’ve done and the way I’ve learned and the people I’ve worked with.’

Wark admitted that the honour was a ‘huge surprise’ to her and she feels that it’s a ‘great honour’ to receive it, as it involves being judged by your peers.

Kirsty described her career working in live television as ‘exhilarating’ (Picture: BBC) The veteran presenter said her job is to ‘not be intrusive’ (Picture: BBC)

‘It’s amazing. Something delivered by your own industry is very, very special,’ she added.

When asked what she’s enjoyed the most in her career, she stressed that it’s the ‘desire to help people tell their own stories and to find out for the public what makes things really tick’.

‘You want to give the audience enough information to make their own minds up,’ she shared.

‘In a political interview when somebody gives you a lot of obfuscation, that tells you just as much that something’s not quite right.’

Wark has conducted plenty of interesting interviews from her days on Newsnight, as she spotlighted speaking to Damian Hurst about his gold skull and Madonna when she adopted the first of her children from Malawi.

‘Working in this industry, you’ve got to be able to turn on a sixpence,’ she advised.

Kirsty during an interview with Lord MacPherson over the Lawrence inquiry in 2000 (Picture: BBC Two) Kirsty poses for a picture during the Bafta TV Fellowship Media Breakfast at the Sea Containers (Picture: Getty Images)

‘I can remember when you’re on air that’s when the engine kicks in and you have to rely on everybody around you.

‘It’s both challenging and on live television it is exhilarating to get that story out in as accurate a way as possible and to depend on the people around you in different parts of the world that are your colleagues, coming in.

‘There’s been many nights like that and there’s been a couple of nights when we’ve kept going on. I love how people can learn so much on the job.’

Looking ahead to the future, Wark revealed her wish for a woman to take over as director general of the BBC – but stressed that she’s not saying that she thinks Tim Davie should leave the position now.

‘I’m not saying, “Tim, go now,” but I think it’s time for a woman,’ she affirmed.

‘The BBC has so many other ways it’s on the front foot – technology, iPlayer, BBC audio and other things – and I would really love to see a woman take hold of that.’

The Bafta Television Awards with P&O Cruises take place at the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall on 11 May and broadcast on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.

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