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Ken Cargill: ‘A diamond in British journalism’

By Press Gazette

The former head of news at BBC Scotland, Ken Cargill, has died aged 65.

He joined the BBC in 1972 and became head of TV news and current affairs in Scotland in 1988, later took on responsibility for radio, sport and news online. He left the corporation in 2002.

BBC Scotland director Ken MacQuarrie said: “Ken was a big personality who had an incisive mind and a superb understanding of what our audiences wanted from the BBC news team.

“He was also very good at spotting and developing broadcast journalists, many of whom are now household names, on our screen and on our airwaves.

“He dealt with serious issues in a serious way but he also had a wicked sense of humour and could be great fun to be around.

“Journalism is very much the poorer for his passing, but his loss will be felt even more by his many friends and family who knew Ken the man rather than Ken the newsman.

“Our thoughts go out to them at this very sad time.”

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Mark Byford, the former deputy director general of the BBC, added: “He was a truly outstanding public servant who raised the bar for high quality broadcast journalism in Scotland. I feel privileged to have worked with him, proud to have learned so much from him and honoured to have been counted as one of his friends.

“He was a great leader who modernised effectively, but always kept true to the values and stood for excellence. Ken Cargill was one of the BBC’s all time greats and a diamond in British journalism.”

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