The second Quaker Truth and Integrity Award has been awarded once again to a journalist, the BBC’s Peter Taylor.

Taylor received the reward in recognition of his outstanding work over 50 years, especially covering the Troubles in Northern Ireland, and Islamic extremism post 9/11.

Quakers have been committed to truth since the mid-17th century. The Quaker Truth and Integrity Group (QTIG) and associated award were set up in 2022 in response to concerns over the undermining of truth and integrity in public life.

The inaugural award was also won by a journalist, Carole Cadwalladr, and QTIG said this highlighted both the importance of trustworthy reporting in today’s world, and the challenges journalists face.

Journalists often find themselves working against a background of intimidation, misinformation and reluctance or refusal to engage and listen with others, QTIG said.

Taylor has made award-winning landmark documentaries for the BBC and ITV and received Lifetime Achievement Awards from BAFTA and the Royal Television Society.

He is the author of ten books, the most recent being Operation Chiffon: The Secret Story of MI5 and MI6 and the Road to Peace in Ireland. “Peter’s painstaking and brilliant reporting has been based on seeking to bridge differences and understand those from extreme traditions,” the QTIG citation reads.

“In doing so, he courageously and often at personal risk made a material contribution towards preparing the way for the 1998 Good Friday Peace Agreement, crucially involving the IRA.”

Taylor has also investigated the power of Big Tobacco and was awarded the World Health Organisation Gold Medal for Services to Public Health.

In 2008 he received the James Cameron Award “for work as a journalist that combined moral vision and professional integrity.”
Concerns over the decline of truth prompted QTIG to set up an annual award to recognise an exceptional contribution by a British individual or organisation towards the enhancement of standards of truth and integrity in public life.

QTIG hope the award will stimulate growing interest around the importance of maintaining standards in public life.

Media Information
Cato Pedder
Media Officer
Quakers in Britain
020 7663 1048
07958 009703
@mediaquaker
catop@quaker.org.uk
www.quaker.org.uk