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Trailblazing investigative reporter Roger Cook dies
ITV said Cook’s five-decade career exposed criminal wrongdoing and helped drive lasting changes in the law.
Legendary ITV broadcaster Roger Cook died on Saturday after a short illness, his family announced on Monday. The New Zealand-born journalist was 83.
Cook's decades-spanning career began in the late 1960s at the BBC, where he created the Radio programme Checkpoint in 1973 before moving to television in 1984. He fronted The Cook Report on ITV from 1987, exposing criminals and government policy failures.
The Cook Report ran for 16 series across 12 years until 1999, driving lasting legal changes. ITV stated Cook "worked tirelessly to expose criminal wrongdoing and injustice," earning a Bafta special award in 1997.
ITV paid tribute, stating: "In a career spanning an incredible five decades, Roger Cook's ground-breaking approach to investigative journalism made him one of broadcasting." His family said he will be "deeply missed by all of us."
In 2007, Cook revisited his most notable stories in a 90-minute special, Roger Cook's Greatest Hits. His fearless contribution to journalism remains a defining legacy in broadcasting.