'Best, Kevin' — How new DG won the trust of colleagues during previous stint at RTÉ

Kevin Bakhurst impressed newsroom staff as 'a straight talker' during his four-year term as head of RTÉ News and Current Affairs

Eye of the storm: Kevin Bakhurst speaking to reporters on Monday as he began his tenure as director general amid the controversy over governance issues at RTÉ. Picture: Niall Carson/PA 

Nicknamed ‘Best, Kevin’, the new RTÉ director general was once in such regular contact with journalists that he sent texts immediately after broadcasts with feedback.

This accessibility and strong and clear communication style are qualities that could make Kevin Bakhurst uniquely suited to his new and complex role, according to RTÉ staff who know him.

Mr Bakhurst, 57, was the head of RTÉ News and Current Affairs from 2012 to 2016. 

Then RTÉ News and Current Affairs MD Kevin Bakhurst with then RTÉ Television MD Glen Killane at Derek Davis' funeral in 2015. Mr Bakhurst impressed newsroom colleagues as 'a straight talker'. Picture: Mark Stedman/Photocall 

After losing out on the role of RTÉ director general to Dee Forbes in 2016, he moved back to Britain to work with communications watchdog Ofcom. 

He began his media career at the BBC, where his roles included news editor and executive.

“I think he’s the right person at the right place at the right time to deal with this procedure of rebuilding trust in RTÉ,” former RTÉ midlands correspondent Ciarán Mullooly said.

“I worked with him when he was head of news. I found him to be a straight talker and someone who has huge experience in dealing with the television licence model of broadcasting.

“During his time in news, he had a good relationship with journalists because of his communications.

"And he was always available. We would grow accustomed to Kevin Bakhurst sending us a text message directly after a broadcast.

“I was blamed in the newsroom for his nickname in that period, ‘Best, Kevin’.

Former RTÉ Midlands Correspondent Ciarán Mullooly: 'During [Kevin Bakhurst's] time in news, he had a good relationship with journalists because of his communications.'

“When you got the text message, he’d say ‘Good story, well told. Best, Kevin’. It’s only a small thing, it’s a text message but, in my mind, it’s good management.

“He was good to work with because you got an instant reaction once it went to air — was it good or otherwise — you always heard.”

Mr Bakhurst also supported the regional news operations.

“He always made himself available in the regions which is not something that always happens within news divisions,” Mr Mullooly said.

Born in London in 1965, Mr Bakhurst read languages at Cambridge before joining the BBC in 1989 after a brief stint working as a consultant. He would stay there for the next two decades. Over the next 15 years, he worked alternately in Britain and Brussels for BBC News, primarily with its flagship nine o’clock news bulletin, as both a producer and editor.

From 2010, he was deputy head of the BBC newsroom overseeing the TV and radio news desks and the broadcaster’s news website.

“I will work with Eimear Cusack & HR to co-ordinate a review of roles & grades, pay,& gender equality (in RTÉ)” - Kevin Bakhurst’s opening pledge in the DG office will be carefully watched by staff to see what exactly it brings.There is HUGE disparity there that must go. #Tubridy

— Ciaran Mullooly MEP (@ciaranmullooly) July 10, 2023

In September 2012, he took over as managing director of news and current affairs at RTÉ. His time in the RTÉ newsroom saw him gain a reputation for calm and unruffled leadership in what is ordinarily a high-stress position.

In 2016, Mr Bakhurst moved back to Britain to head up Ofcom, the British broadcast media regulator, after he lost out on the RTÉ top job to the now recently retired Dee Forbes.

Mr Bakhurst is the 12th person to become DG and will be RTÉ’s new supremo for a seven-year term.