A regional daily deputy editor who was “an old-fashioned news man in the best sense of those words” has died aged 64.

Tributes have been paid to Jim Morrison, left, who was second in command at the Edinburgh Evening News in the 2000s.

During a career spanning more than 30 years, Jim held a series of senior positions in national and local newspapers as well as in television and public relations.

An investigative reporter on the 1980s television series the Cook Report, he later worked as deputy editor at Central Television, in Birmingham, before returning to newspapers.

He was features editor and deputy news editor at the Daily Record in Glasgow, before working at the EEN between 2000 and 2010 as news editor and later deputy editor.

Current EEN editor Euan McGrory said: “Jim was an old-fashioned news man in the best sense of those words, who taught me – and a whole raft of other young journalists who went on to hold senior positions in the industry in Scotland and London – so much about our trade.

“He was always a calming, incisive influence in the newsroom, and was great fun to work with when the moment allowed. He was also a kind and thoughtful man.”

Away from journalism, Jim was a keen rugby player for many years and later ran his own video production company.

Jim, who died at his home in Leith, Edinburgh, last week, is survived by his daughter and two sons.