Bernard Shaw Biography – Bernard Shaw Wiki
Bernard Shaw was an American journalist and lead news anchor for CNN from 1980 until his retirement in March 2001. Before he joined CNN, he was a reporter and anchor for WNUS, Westinghouse Broadcasting, CBS News, and ABC News.
He studied at the University of Illinois at Chicago from 1963 to 1968. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps, including stints in Hawaii and at Marine Corps Air Station, Cherry Point, North Carolina, where in 1962 he was a “Message Center” specialist, achieving the rank of Corporal, E-4. He exhibited a passionate interest in the print media, clipping articles from newspapers, and often traveled on weekends to Washington, D.C. He cultivated an acquaintance with Walter Cronkite and had an interest in baseball.
Shaw kicked off his broadcasting career as an anchor and reporter for WNUS in Chicago in 1964. He then worked as a reporter for the Westinghouse Broadcasting Company in Chicago, moving later to Washington as the White House correspondent. He worked as a correspondent in the Washington Bureau of CBS News from 1971 to 1977. In 1977, he shifted to ABC News as a Latin American correspondent and bureau chief before becoming the Capitol Hill Senior Correspondent.
He left ABC for CNN in 1980 to serve in the capacity of a co-anchor for its PrimeNews broadcast, anchoring from Washington, D.C. Shaw’s coverage of the 1981 assassination attempt on U.S. President Ronald Reagan (with Shaw joined by former CBS News correspondent Daniel Schorr, one of the first on-air personalities hired by the fledgling cable channel) is credited as helping to establish CNN as a credible and reliable broadcast news source at an early point in the network’s history.
He was widely recognized for the question he posed to Democratic U.S. presidential candidate Michael Dukakis at his second Presidential debate with George H. W. Bush during the 1988 election, which Shaw was moderating. Knowing that Dukakis opposed the death penalty, Shaw asked him if he would support an irrevocable death penalty for a man who hypothetically raped and murdered Dukakis’s wife. Dukakis responded that he would not; critics felt he framed his response too legalistically and logically and did not address it sufficiently on a personal level. Kitty Dukakis, among other public figures, found the question inflammatory and unwarranted at a presidential debate. Several journalists also on the panel with Shaw, including Ann Compton, Andrea Mitchell, and Margaret Garrard Warner, expressed an interest in leaving Dukakis’s name out of the question.
He is also remembered for his reporting on the 1991 Gulf War. Reporting with CNN correspondents John Holliman and Peter Arnett from the Al-Rashid Hotel in Baghdad, he found shelter under a desk as he reported cruise missiles flying past his window. He also made frequent trips back and forth from the hotel’s bomb shelter. While describing the situation in Baghdad, he famously stated “Clearly I’ve never been there, but this feels like we’re in the center of hell.”
Shaw moderated the October 2000 vice-presidential debate between Dick Cheney and Joe Lieberman. He co-anchored CNN’s Inside Politics from 1992 until he retired from CNN in March 2001. He then occasionally appeared on CNN, including in May 2005, when a plane flew into restricted air space in Washington, D.C. He co-anchored Judy Woodruff’s last broadcast on CNN in June 2005. Shaw reflected over his 41 years in journalism, that what he missed in his personal life was not worth it. He appeared on the June 1, 2020, episode of CNN’s Erin Burnett OutFront to recognize the 40th anniversary of the start of the network.
He is a recipient of the 1994: Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism, and 1996: Paul White Award, for Radio Television Digital News Association. Bernard Shaw was inducted as a Laureate of The Lincoln Academy of Illinois and awarded the Order of Lincoln (the State’s highest honor) by the Governor of Illinois in 2002 in the area of Communications.
Bernard Shaw Age
He was born on May 22, 1940, in Chicago, Illinois, United States, and died on September 7, 2022. He was 82.
Bernard Shaw Wife
Shaw was married to Linda Allston from March 30, 1974, until his death on September 7, 2022. The couple had two children throughout their marriage.
Bernard Shaw Children
Shaw had two children: Amar Edgar and Anil Louise who now survive him with his wife.
Bernard Shaw Parents
He was born in Chicago, Illinois, to his parents Edgar Shaw, a railroad employee and house painter, and Camilla (Murphy) Shaw, who worked as a housekeeper.
Bernard Shaw Death
He passed on at a hospital in Washington, D.C., on September 7, 2022, at the age of 82, after contracting pneumonia. According to CNN’s website, they reported that former CNN anchor Bernard Shaw died Wednesday at a Washington, DC, hospital of pneumonia unrelated to Covid-19, Shaw’s family announced Thursday. Shaw was 82.
The family requested donations to a scholarship fund in lieu of flowers, according to a statement provided by former CNN CEO Tom Johnson. “The Shaw family requests complete privacy at this time,” the family added in the statement.
He was CNN’s first chief anchor and was with the network when it launched on June 1, 1980. He retired from CNN after more than 20 years on February 28, 2001. During his storied career, Shaw reported on some of the biggest stories of that time – including the student revolt in Tiananmen Square in May 1989, the First Gulf war live from Baghdad in 1991, and the 2000 presidential election.
“CNN’s beloved anchor and colleague, Bernard Shaw, passed away yesterday at the age of 82. Bernie was a CNN original and was our Washington Anchor when we launched on June 1st, 1980,” Chris Licht, CNN Chairman, and CEO said in a statement Thursday. “He was our lead anchor for the next twenty years from anchoring coverage of presidential elections to his iconic coverage of the First Gulf War live from Baghdad in 1991. Even after he left CNN, Bernie remained a close member of our CNN family providing our viewers with context about historic events as recently as last year. The condolences of all of us at CNN go out to his wife Linda and his children.”
Funeral services for Shaw will be closed to family and invited guests only, with a public memorial service planned at a later time, his family said.
In a statement, Johnson said Shaw “exemplified excellence in his life” and will be “remembered as a fierce advocate of responsible journalism.”
“As a journalist, he demanded accuracy and fairness in news coverage. He earned the respect of millions of viewers around the world for his integrity and independence. He resisted forcefully any lowering of ethical news standards or any compromise of solid news coverage. He always could be trusted as a reporter and as an anchor,” Johnson said.
“Bernie was my personal friend and colleague for more than 55 years. I will miss him enormously,” he added. “My wife Edwina and I extend our most genuine condolences to Bernie’s wife Linda and to his family.”
Bernard Shaw Cause of Death
His death was a result of contracting pneumonia, unrelated to Covid-19.
