First TV reporter for BBC News NI Cecil Taylor dies
- Published
Ex-BBC news editor Robin Walsh said Cecil Taylor had a "fine-tuned editorial mind"
Cecil Taylor, BBC News NI's first TV reporter, has died at the age of 96.
He began his career at the BBC at the same moment BBC TV news bulletins were born in 1955.
Tributes have been paid by many former colleagues, who described him as a solid and valued news pioneer.
Don Anderson, who worked with him at the BBC for many years, said Mr Taylor was a brave journalist who "began the BBC's journey towards proper impartial journalism here".
"He used to say that when he arrived at the BBC the news from the Belfast newsroom sounded as if it had been written in Stormont Castle and he did something to change that, which was highly important," Mr Anderson said.
When Mr Taylor joined the BBC newsroom in Belfast he was the only reporter, alongside a news editor and a typist.
He contributed to a daily five-minute radio bulletin in the evenings and a weekly TV report on Fridays.
As a reporter he helped cover the IRA's border campaign of the 1950s and early 1960s.
Cecil Taylor (left) pictured working with newsreader Michael Baguley
By the mid-60s he had become the BBC NI news editor and had a front row seat to the beginning of the Troubles.
Mr Anderson was one of his reporters and said he was "solid, consistent".
"You knew what was expected - fair and accurate reporting. Anything else and he came down on top of you like a ton of bricks," he added.
Cecil Taylor pictured in a BBC Northern Ireland studio in 1960
Mr Taylor eventually became head of BBC NI programmes, commissioning many dramas, including Graham Reid's Billy Plays starring Kenneth Branagh.
Mr Anderson credits him with planting the seeds that have grown into Northern Ireland's thriving film industry.
"He was one of the men who began television drama here - when we see all the studios here now, all the series, he began all that," he said.
Mr Taylor (standing on the left) is described by former colleagues as a "news pioneer"
"Once that boulder began rolling down the hill there was no stopping it."
Former BBC news editor Robin Walsh told BBC News NI's Good Morning Ulster that Mr Taylor "was seriously honest".
"He told you what he thought and there were no airs and graces about it", he continued.
"He had a fine-tuned editorial mind, but I tell you what he also had, he had an open door - sadly, sadly to be missed."
Former BBC journalist Brian Walker said Mr Taylor was "valued and respected as the go-to source of invaluable local knowledge and good judgement".
His funeral took place at Hamilton Road Presbyterian Church in Bangor on Wednesday afternoon.