Former CNN anchorman Bernard Shaw passed away Wednesday after battling pneumonia “unrelated to Covid-19,” Shaw’s family announced in a statement on Thursday. He was 82.
“In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the Bernard Shaw Scholarship Fund at the University of Chicago. The Shaw family requests complete privacy at this time,” the family said in their statement.
Shaw began his journalism career as an anchor and reporter for WNUS in Chicago. He worked as a reporter for the Westinghouse Broadcasting Company in Chicago, before moving to Washington as the White House correspondent.
Shaw was CNN’s first Black anchor and its chief anchorman when the all-news cable network launched on June 1, 1980. He worked for CNN until he retired in 2001.
CNN reports the funeral services will be private and attended by family and close friends only. A public memorial will be planned at a later time.
