Departures of note

Mark Doyle was a British journalist who spent decades covering the African continent for the BBC. After living in Africa he joined the BBC in 1986 and became East Africa correspondent in 1993, making his name a year later covering the Rwandan genocide, where he stayed longer than most of his colleagues. As West Africa correspondent from 1997 to 2002 he reported on Sierra Leone's brutal civil war and the aftermath of Liberia's conflict, and his reporting was credited with helping persuade the UK government to intervene militarily in Sierra Leone in 2000. In 2004 he won first prize in the UN Correspondents Association/UN Foundation Awards for his coverage of post-war Liberia. He later became BBC World Affairs correspondent before retiring from the broadcaster in 2015. Colleagues remembered him as a legendary, brave and empathetic reporter admired by presidents and warlords alike.