Bernard Shaw

Dear Commons Community,

Bernard Shaw, the longtime lead anchor of CNN and an original member of the news network, died Wednesday at age 82.

The veteran newsman died following a battle with pneumonia unrelated to COVID-19, his family said yesterday, according to CNN.  As reported by CNN.

“Bernie was a CNN original and was our Washington Anchor when we launched on June 1, 1980,” said Chris Licht, CEO of CNN, in a statement. “He was our lead anchor the next twenty years from anchoring coverage of presidential elections to his iconic coverage of the First Gulf War live from Baghdad in 1991.”

Shaw was the first-ever lead anchor for CNN who moderated presidential and vice presidential debates and co-anchored the show “Inside Politics” for nearly a decade before retiring in 2001.

“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,” Licht said. “The condolences of all of us at CNN go out to his wife Linda and his children.”

A public memorial will be held on a yet-to-be-announced date following a private funeral service for family and guests, according to CNN.

Bernard Shaw was the trusted voice for news during the Gulf War.  Americans tuned into his daily reports  to hear what he had to say about the fighting going in the Middle East as a result of the Iraqi invasion and annexation of Kuwait.

The New York Times has an obituary of Mr. Shaw here.

May he rest in peace!

Tony

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