Angela McManus
September 19, 2014 was a pivotal date in the lives of many Scots. It was the day after the referendum when the political landscape threatened to shift dramatically and then slipped into a new normal. For television news anchorman John MacKay it was his 20th anniversary at STV.
The face of new bulletins and current affairs programme Scotland Tonight started to think about what had changed in Scotland in the past 20 years. In a reflective mood while leafing through old diaries and scripts, he said he soon realised he had the material for a book.
Notes of a Newsman is published today and at the launch tonight at Waterstones in Argyle Street, Glasgow, MacKay, 50, will offer an insight into some of the biggest stories he has covered over the years and what goes on behind the cameras.
The book follows MacKay’s story as a journalist, from the Sunday Post on to BBC Radio Scotland and then being headhunted by STV as a newsreader.
“I started working during the Thatcher era. Some of the vox pops are quite fascinating, people saying, ‘Labour holds nothing for me, I’m going to the Alliance.’ The Alliance? It’s not spoken about any more,” said the journalist who grew up in Hillington and lives in Renfrewshire with his wife Jo.
Diaries meticulously kept throughout his career cover heartbreaking stories such as the Dunblane tragedy as well as interviews with first ministers.
One of his most memorable interviews was recently on Scotland Tonight when cyclist Graeme Obree openly talked about suicide.
“The way he spoke about the mindset that takes you there – he had attempted suicide – it was nothing I had ever heard before and I hope people got a lot from it,” MacKay said.
One year on from the referendum and with the game-changing May General Election behind us, what does he see next for Scotland?
“What has changed has been the widespread engagement over the course of the independence referendum. I had never known the likes of it; the buzz and people talking about it all the time. That was something I hadn’t expected and certainly wouldn’t have 20 years ago.”
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