Sarah Cullen

Sarah Cullen (6 October 1949 – 22 January 2012) was a British radio and television journalist who worked for ITN, as well as BBC Radio 4's Today programme. Remembered for her red hair and volatile temperament, Cullen forged a reputation for reporting from the street, and undertook many assignments in Northern Ireland, including covering events during the closing days of The Troubles.

Life and career

Born in Newcastle upon Tyne, Cullen's father was the manager of a quarry in County Durham while her mother taught mathematics at a teacher training college. She was educated at the Sisters of Notre Dame convent school, a boarding school in Southport, before studying for A-levels at a sixth form college in Cambridge. She was a student at University College London from 1968 to 1972, graduating with a BA degree in English. She interrupted her studies from 1970 to 1971 to take a paid sabbatical year as editor of the University of London student newspaper then titled Sennet. Cullen joined ITN as a graduate trainee in 1972.

After being made redundant from ITN in 1991 she moved to radio, freelancing for Radio 4's PM, and was the recipient of a Bronze Sony Radio Academy Award as News Reporter of the Year in 1994.

For another series of news reports she went to Glasgow to investigate the city's illegal drug trade, and gathered her material by befriending a young woman who was a drug addict. After spending almost a week working undercover she helped the woman through the rehabilitation process.

Cullen left the BBC after being diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 1998, and undergoing chemotherapy. She suffered further health problems later in life. Her memoirs of her early days at ITN, In Praise of Panic were published in 1982.

Personal life

Cullen married fellow journalist Kieran Devaney in 1986. The couple had a son, Tom, and the marriage was dissolved in 1998.