Investigative journalist Roger Cook, the reporter credited with having invented the doorstep interview technique, has died peacefully after a short illness, his family has confirmed.
“Alongside a distinguished and award winning career in journalism, Roger was first and foremost a beloved husband and father,” their statement read.
“He will be deeply missed by all of us, and we ask for privacy as we navigate this difficult loss.”
ITV, which broadcast The Cook Report in the 1980s and 1990s, led the tributes, praising Cook’s “groundbreaking approach to investigative journalism” which, it said, “made him one of broadcasting’s most trusted and respected figures”.
He won a Bafta special award for “25 years of outstanding quality investigative reporting” for his eponymous current affairs show, which ran between 1987 and 1999.
Cook “worked tirelessly to expose criminal wrongdoing and injustice, helping to drive important and lasting changes in the law,” ITV said.
“His fearless contribution to journalism will long be remembered, and we send our deepest sympathies and condolences to his wife, family and friends at this difficult time.”
Cook – who was born in New Zealand and raised in Australia – took bruises and beatings during his investigations, which saw him tackle injustice and stand up for victims of crime.
During one doorstep in 1981, he sustained three broken ribs at the hands of an alleged car thief with a baseball bat.
He moved to the UK in the late 1960s, where his career took him from BBC Radio 4 – where he worked on The World At One, the PM Programme, Checkpoint and The World This Weekend – to sixteen series of The Cook Report on ITV.
At its peak, more than 12 million watched the journalist’s investigations.
And although he said he hated it, the Roger Cook doorstep was, he felt, essential.
At one point the police said a hitman had been hired to kill him.
Cook said audience research had revealed the public liked him taking on the crooks and charlatans but they didn’t actually want to see him getting hit.
Cook’s brand of investigative journalism on radio and TV landed him in hospital around 30 times as he chased a variety of alleged criminals and conmen across the globe.
His work exposed child abuse, Northern Ireland protection rackets and baby trading in Brazil, as well as the illicit ivory trade and the Russian black market in weapons-grade plutonium.
He also investigated illegal immigration, war criminals in Bosnia and terror attacks including those behind the September 11 attacks in New York City.
Speaking to fellow journalist Ruth Wishart on Life Behind the News, Cook explained that introducing a new, more confrontational reporting style had been necessary at the time but also suited his personality.
He said: “The Sunday Times did some pretty honourable stuff and some of the earlier World in Actions were pretty good stuff too – but they weren’t confrontational.
“They didn’t have a reporter with whom people could identify going up front against those people alleged to be responsible for whatever it was.”
He added: “If you were just doing it for a newspaper, you might attempt to get your answers by dint of a telephone call.
“I think the best way to get answers, the way to serve your contributors, the victims of these people best, is to confront the people.
“I don’t mean confrontational in terms of going in, all guns firing. I mean to actually stand in front of the guy and say, ‘This is what you have done to the people in this programme. What do you have to say to them?'”
Cook has published several books including an autobiography, Dangerous Ground.
His bold and influential reporting style was often parodied by comics including Reeves and Mortimer, and Sir Stephen Fry.
By BBC News
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