Longtime CNN anchor Bernard Shaw dead at 82

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 Thursday, according to 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.

“In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the Bernard Shaw Scholarship Fund at the University of Chicago,” Shaw’s family said. “The Shaw family requests complete privacy at this time.”