A night with Stacey Dooley

“Be brave and ask the questions at the tip of your tongue.”

Stacey Dooley is a remarkably dynamic personality. She left school with no qualifications, and immediately found employment as an active 15 years old perfume saleswoman at Luton Airport. Less than 20 years later, she is now widely famed and respected for reporting from the world’s most hostile territories, and is currently topping the TV charts with her recent documentary ‘On the Psych Ward’. She has previously compiled 80-odd documentaries around the world, taking on terrorists, pedophile networks, rightwing extremists and international drug dealers, and more recently responding to suggestions to cover mental health issues. She has achieved so much in a small space of time – presenting programmes about subjects so harrowing that they can make people flee when she confronts them, This is precisely what happened during her interview with a known sex offender in her documentary Second Chance Sex Offenders. He ran from their exchanges in his home, leaving her undecided about what to do.  – “Should I sit on the sofa and wait for him, or lock up?” As she presents this type of content, with her no BS and starkly real approach, she’s managing to encourage a generation of news-shy young people to embrace an interest in world affairs. Women, children, the marginalised and the exploited, are amongst those at the heart of her documentaries. She has a heart for humanity, and in her interviews seeks the understanding which is the bedrock of her striking empathy. Last year, she was awarded an MBE for her noteworthy services to effective journalism.

Last Monday evening, she appeared at The Barbican Centre for a special and intimate evening in which she frankly discussed her life and journey. The music that was playing as she humbly emerged on stage was the 90’s classic, “Colours of the World” by The Spice Girls.  That just sums up Stacey Dooley: colourful. What you see is what you get with this red-haired, smiling 32 year old. In real life, up close and personal, she comes across as just the same girl as we see on our screens. I found the overall experience awesome. I would never categorise her as a typical journalist. No, I’d rather describe her as one of the good gals. She’s known for her empathy and for saying ‘be brave and ask the questions at the tip of your tongue’. The Luton-born gal who dropped out of school at 15 to sell perfumes at the local airport boasted “I can sell anything, me”, leaving me and others believing this to be true.

I was incredibly moved during Monday night’s interview when I heard how Stacey in her own interviews comfortably engages with people who have experienced trauma and emerged as “survivors” - whether that be from wars, sexual assault or mental health challenges. She encouraged us all never to undersell yourself; believe you can do something and don’t allow the noise of others to put you off; that resonated with me. Her life so far has been a good example of that. She touched on the recent events in the press relating to suicide awareness and told us how she believes that when the press “pick you next, you’re done for” - which is becoming a sad reality, as current events have shown. She stressed that there are journalists out there who ought to be held accountable, and should own up to their behaviours. To which we applauded.

Stacey’s bold approach to journalism comes from wanting to understand; and she’ll seek out understanding by asking the questions that most of her viewers are thinking but don’t want to ask. Throughout her documentaries we see her react to situations just as you and I would. We laughed on Monday at one particular scene which she shared from the ‘Girls, Guns and Isis’ documentary, In this clip, Stacey hears artillery fire and ducks down. But nobody around her bats an eyelid at the gunfire; in fact they’re laughing at her reaction, as background gunfire has sadly become the norm for them. She ducks repeatedly and tells them “you’re going to have to tell me when you’re going to do that” - a normal response from a scared journalist. Her great charm is that she’s so transparent. This seems uncommon now with other journalists; they appear to have filtered out their reactions to things. For that reason I can struggle to relate to them, as I suspect others do, too.  Stacey’s more realistic and engaged approach to journalism is exactly why I believe she’s worthy of the award recognition.

Once we’ve viewed a documentary or even as the credits are rolling through, we’re immediately introduced to the next show or we flick over to another channel and maybe forget what we’ve witnessed. I’m a person who is fascinated by pre- and post-production. I like to know how programs and events are conceived, I eagerly seek out what went in to producing any final piece we see edited on our screens. I’m also intrigued by the aftermath. I wondered about the experiences of “the survivors” as Stacey called them, since the BBC visited them in their day-to-day lives. So I addressed a question to her: “How are the people you interview doing now?” Stacey and her team research extensively before and after making a documentary. She shared that during her recent show “On the Psych ward” they communicated constantly with charities, doctors, nurses and guardians during the making of this documentary.

I’m a staunch advocate of after-show care for those who have been on screen, and so was pleased to learn that she, too, often thinks about those she’s crossed paths with in her interviews. She told us how, in 2014, 50,000 Yazidis fled their ancestral lands in northern Iraq to Mount Sinjar, away from the advance of ISIS. Without food and water, thousands died on the mountain and the ones left behind were massacred or captured. More than 5,000 women were taken to be used as sex slaves, with an estimated 2,000 still women remaining in captivity. She then updated us on the detached sister from this documentary who was trying to find her lost sister whilst battling for freedom and justice. This sister was found and recovered months later in the making of the documentary, albeit malnourished and obviously traumatised from her kidnap. She texted Stacey, with a smiling photo of herself, to share this news. It is clear that the Dooley team appear to ‘check-in’ on previous interviewees and keep up with messages and so on. They certainly seem to do well at advocating and practicing compassion even months after they’ve completed a production,.

It was an absolute pleasure and a rather groundbreaking moment for me to be a part of this evening. Stacey Dooley has been a favourite of mine since her first appearance in Blood, Sweat and T-shirts. I was bowled over by her realism, outspoken mouth and compassion in that moving account of six young fashion lovers who swapped shopping for the factories and backstreet workshops of India, to learn how the clothes they wear are manufactured by working in the backstreet factories of the largest slum in Asia.

Her recent documentary ‘On the Psych Ward’ is just another example of her heart and character. She shines a light on people and uses this platform of hers to do good. It’s so easy to look past someone interviewing onscreen, Stacey Dooley seems to have an incredible work ethic and dedicates much of her time when not overseas to research extensively the issues she’s going to address to the World.

As with any documentary featuring people during a vulnerable time in their lives, questions are often asked about the appropriateness of filming conversations that participants may not have been willing to engage in so publicly, at another time. Stacey explained about the process of consent prior to, during and after filming. “We use ‘rolling consent’ which means they are allowed to withdraw at any time," she wrote about the films' participants. "Even months after. She explained that one contributor did just that, and is now no longer part of the film. This was “Totally their choice, and a decision we fully respected. We constantly check in with the mental health experts, doctors, psychiatrist, and if appropriate their family members. My hand on my heart, I feel we approached ‘On the Psych Ward’ as ethically as possible. This is not sensationalist. It’s important conversations are hopefully reducing stigma.

With thanks to Fane Productions and Truevision TV