A tribute to our former student, who went on to become one of the most respected and recognisable figures in British broadcast journalism. He embodied all the qualities City St George’s seeks to instil in its Journalism graduates
For much of the past four decades, Dermot Murnaghan was simply there.
He was there on breakfast television before people left for work. He was there on election nights that ran into the early hours. When governments rose and fell, as national tragedies unfolded, and when the news demanded clarity rather than noise. For viewers, his presence became almost unremarkable – the audience's attention remaining where he knew it belonged: firmly on the story.
Journalism is full of more conspicuous careers than Dermot's. Few, however, were more respected.
Across Channel 4, ITN, the BBC and Sky News, he built a reputation not through self-promotion or reinvention, but through the steady accumulation of professional trust. He was admired by audiences, certainly, but perhaps even more significantly by his fellow journalists. In an industry that can be unsparing in its judgement, he was widely regarded as a broadcaster who understood exactly what the job required of him.
Dermot graduated from a postgraduate course in City St George's Department of Journalism in 1984, entering a profession that looked very different from today, where television news was still organised around a handful of fixed bulletins. The internet still years away, journalism moved at a different pace. Yet the essentials of the craft have changed far less than the technology surrounding them, and much of Dermot's career can be understood as a demonstration of that fact.
He began in local newspapers before moving into television, getting his big break at Channel 4. From there came increasingly prominent roles at ITN, the BBC and Sky News, where he became one of the defining broadcasters of his generation and covered some of the biggest breaking stories of the modern era.
Millions knew him as a familiar face on screen, with a warm and reassuring voice. But his fellow journalists noticed the preparation, the judgement and the consistency.
There was nothing theatrical about his authority. It came instead from qualities that reporters, producers and editors recognise immediately: curiosity, command of the facts, an unflappable gift for thinking on his feet, respect for the audience, and a willingness to ask difficult questions without making himself the centre of the exchange. As TV news evolved around him, he retained a faith in the idea that journalism's primary task was to inform the public clearly and accurately.
For many within the wider City St George’s Journalism community, that may be part of the reason his career felt familiar. The Department of Journalism has produced editors, correspondents, presenters, documentary makers and investigative reporters working across the world. They have followed very different paths, but most would recognise the professional values that shaped Dermot's work. The conviction that accuracy matters. That preparation matters. These sound like simple principles until one attempts to practise them every day, under pressure, in public, for decades.
Despite his success, Dermot remained connected to the Department. A decade ago, he returned to help mark the 40th anniversary of Journalism at City St George’s, hosting a celebration that brought together alumni, students and staff. It was a fitting role. By then, his own career had become part of the Department's story – not because it was unusually glamorous, but as a yardstick for what sustained excellence in journalism looks like.
In the final year of his life, he brought the same sense of public purpose to a different challenge. After revealing that he had been diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer, he spoke openly about the disease and the importance of testing and early diagnosis. Rather than retreat from view, he used the credibility he had earned over decades to raise awareness and encourage others to seek medical advice. It was an act entirely consistent with the values that had guided his working life: informing people, helping them understand an issue and, ultimately, serving the public interest.
News organisations are often described in terms of programmes, front pages, owners or brands. In reality, they are shaped by the standards of the people who work within them. The most influential journalists are not always those who attract the most attention. Often, they are those who earn the confidence of colleagues, set an example for younger reporters and show, day after day, what the profession can be at its best.
Former head of the Department of Journalism, Professor Emerita Suzanne Franks, said:
Dermot’s death is indeed a major loss to British broadcasting, to the many colleagues and friends who worked alongside him, and to the generations of Department of Journalism graduates who saw in his career a model of professionalism, integrity and public service.