With Mark Tully’s passing, journalism loses a steadfast practitioner: Yusuf Jameel

Mark Tully Sahab, the guru of broadcast journalism, an institution in himself, an acclaimed author and a rare embodiment of integrity, warmth and deep human compassion,  passed away in a New Delhi hospital. His departure marks the end of an era.

For generations across India, Pakistan, and the wider South Asian region, Tully’s unmistakable voice was the BBC. It carried authority without arrogance, empathy without sentimentality, and clarity without compromise. His reportage shaped public understanding of the subcontinent for decades, and his storytelling set the gold standard for journalistic excellence.

On a personal note, he was unfailingly kind to me, a mentor in the truest sense, a steady source of guidance and an enduring inspiration. His grasp of Kashmir, my own journalistic beat, was profound and nuanced. Few outsiders understood the region the way he did, and even fewer approached it with his depth of sensitivity and fairness.

With his passing, journalism loses one of its most steadfast practitioners, a storyteller who believed in truth without theatrics, courage without spectacle and compassion without compromise. 

His legacy remains a guiding light for all who see journalism not merely as a profession but as a calling. I will miss Tully the way one misses the great seniors, those rare figures whose presence shapes not just one’s career but one’s understanding of the world. 

His calm, unmistakable cadence carried authority without a hint of arrogance, empathy without sentimentality and a clarity that never diluted the truth. 

His reportage defined how the world saw the subcontinent for decades, and his storytelling set a standard that few have ever matched. 

His resignation from the BBC on July 10, 1994, after three decades of service, was more than a professional decision. It marked the end of a particular era in global journalism, one defined by curiosity, humility, and a belief that stories must serve the public, not the institution. 

His absence leaves a void that cannot be filled, yet his legacy continues to illuminate the path for those of us who still believe in journalism as a vocation rooted in truth and humanity.

[Yusuf Jameel is a veteran journalist, columnist and winner of CPJ Int'l Press Freedom Award (1996)]