Dermot Murnaghan, the unmistakable voice and steady presence who guided British audiences through decades of breaking news, has died aged 68.
His family said in a statement that the former BBC and Sky News presenter “died peacefully” at his home in north London this morning “following a period of illness with prostate cancer”.
Over a five-decade career, Mr Murnaghan built a reputation as a calm, authoritative news presenter, and he became especially familiar to viewers during his 15 years as a lead anchor for Sky News.
His work spanned major broadcasters and some of the UK’s most prominent bulletins: he delivered news for Channel 4, fronted flagship programmes including the ITV Evening News, and anchored the BBC News at Six and Ten, cementing his standing as one of the country’s best-known broadcast journalists.
“He died peacefully with his family at his side.
“The family wish to thank the medical teams who cared for Dermot with such sensitivity and extraordinary compassion throughout his illness.
“Also, for the many, many kind messages of goodwill that he received over the last year since his diagnosis of stage four prostate cancer and his subsequent campaigning to raise awareness for screening programmes for the disease.”
“In accordance with his wishes, the funeral will be a small family ceremony.
“A memorial service for friends and colleagues will follow at St Bride’s Church, Fleet Street (the Journalists’ Church) later this year.
“The family request that anyone wishing to remember him considers supporting Prostate Cancer UK, Prostate Cancer Research and North London Hospice so that others may benefit from the research and care he received.”
Mr Murnaghan revealed last year that he had prostate cancer, describing it as “incurable but it’s not untreatable”, and he went on to use his platform to speak openly about the illness, campaigning to boost awareness and promote screening programmes for the disease.
