Joe Gorrod was the first journalist to use the term "Bloody Sunday" to describe the British army's massacre of 13 unarmed civilians in Derry in January 1972. His headline on the next day's Daily Mirror was "Ulster's Bloody Sunday".
His report rejected the version put out by British army press officers alleging the dead were gunmen, and blamed the military.
It was one of the high points of four decades spent with the Mirror in Belfast. He was an old-school journalist, in the positive sense, who believed in being out and about with his notebook in his pocket; and building up a network of contacts at all levels of Northern Ireland society. He had a particular passion for stories that exposed injustice and defended the rights of ordinary people.
Shared contacts
Both as a reporter and news editor, he was noted for encouraging young journalists. He put them at their ease. He made sure they got bylines. He shared his contacts. If young journalists were in any way willing to learn, he gave his time.
William Joseph (Joe) Gorrod was born in September 1938, the elder of two children to Joe Gorrod, a sailor, and Louise (née Fisher). The family lived in the port and industrial town of Hartlepool in the northeast of England. He was educated at primary school in the town, then in its Henry Smith Grammar School.
After completing A-Levels, he was conscripted into the army. During his service, he was stationed in the North and at a dance met Eileen Higgins from Belfast, who became his wife. Belfast became home – but he never lost his Hartlepool accent.
His first journalistic job was with the Northern Whig, now defunct, and he worked at various times for the Belfast Telegraph and Daily Express, but the Mirror was his journalistic home.
He was a highly cultured man, passionate about music, cinema and literature. Joseph Heller and Raymond Chandler were particular favourites. He believed tabloid writers had to give readers their best. He always advised young journalists to learn from the Bible, because “the Bible’s the best bit of tabloid reporting you’ll see”.
He is survived by his wife, Eileen, sister Paulette, daughters Tracey and Joanne, son Timothy and grandchildren.