My friend and former colleague Brian Davis, who has died aged 91, was a journalist of the old school, meticulous in his commitment to fair, accurate reporting throughout an understated but distinguished career. All those he trained remember his mantra: “If you can’t get names right, why should anyone trust the rest of the story?”
He spent the bulk of his time in regional journalism, except for a stint subediting on the Guardian in the 1960s. He trained dozens of young journalists, including the future broadcaster Richard Madeley at the Brentwood Argus, where Brian was the launch editor in 1968 and stayed for nearly 20 years. He later appeared as a guest on an episode of This Is Your Life that featured Madeley.
Brian was also the author of three books: Ferndown, The Back of Beyond (1996), about growing up in a Dorset village; You ’Orrible Little Man (2010), highlighting his experience of national service; and I’ll Take That One (2013), about child wartime evacuees.
Brian was born in Ferndown, to Ernest Davis, a hotel waiter, and his wife, Norah. He never entirely lost his Dorset lilt or his love of the county. He attended Queen Elizabeth’s grammar school in Wimborne and at 18 worked at the Wimborne News for two years before beginning his national service in 1955.
After that he worked on papers including the Hertfordshire Mercury, the Romford Recorder and the Ilford Pictorial, and then moved to launch the Argus – a tough job in an already crowded but very lucrative market, served at one time by five different newspapers. His fierce insistence on fact-checking belied a character that former colleagues described as encouraging, kind, funny, quirky, intelligent and patient.
Brian went on to become an editor at the Yellow Advertiser before freelancing until a stroke in 2014 brought his career to an end.
He was devoted to his second wife, Joy (nee Noys), a receptionist and typist, whom he married in 1973 and her son, Alan. They survive him, as do his children, Russell and Kate, from his first marriage, to Joan, which ended in divorce.
