steady. he was never trying to get ahead of the story. he was not trying to say more than he knew. and frankly, that is what you want in a journalist. reporter: six years later, shaw s brand of journalism won cnn the kind of white house access previously reserved for the big three networks. five of the republican presidential candidates have deserted you. the conservatives, the right wing of your party, are after your scalp. reporter: shaw s reputation for hard interviews became legendary. after a question to michael dukakis during a 1988 presidential debate. governor, if kitty dukakis were raped and murdered, would you favor an irrevocable death penalty for the killer? it was classic bernie shaw. it certainly was a moment when people took another look at michael dukakis and made a decision about him that no doubt had an impact ultimately on their vote. reporter: a year later, the
covering dr. mar contin luther jr. he said one day you ll make it, just do some good. reporter: and shaw once again turned to cronkite, who helped him land a job at cbs. as a d.c. reporter, he covered the watergate scandal before moving to abc in 1977. he was one of the first journalists to capture the harrowing scene of the jonestown massacre. two years later, cnn came calling. i m bernard shaw, that is the latest from our cable news network bureau here in washington. we started off all the other guys had white males as their lead anchors and our lead anchor was a team of a woman and a black man. so i thought it was real good. i did too. reporter: less than a year on air, shaw led the network s coverage of 9the assassination attempt on president reagan. approximately four shots were fired at the president. bernie was mr. calm, mr.
chinese government cracked down on news coverage forcing shaw off the air. for all of the hard working men and women of cnn, good-bye from beijing. i m a child democracy. and when we were shut down, my temple just froze with anger. i remember i went back to my hotel room and i actually cried. reporter: for more than 20 years, shaw was the face of cnn and trusted news around the world. always steady. always solid. always trusted. and that to me is going to be his legacy. it was the you can count on him brand. reporter: but the public trust came with a personal cost. shaw said he sacrificed precious time away from his wife and two children and suffered ptsd from his time in baghdad. you pay a price. i happen to believe it is a worthwhile price to pay. but you are going to pay a
price. reporter: it was the price of being a quiwitness to history a the privilege of being trusted to report it. you can depend on us being here all the time. and please pass the word. wow. what a remarkable life and what an example of what cnn was and is and may we all continue to learn from him. no question. what a life, what a career, what a man. always a gentleman. that is how we knew him here. our thoughts are with his family today. we ll be right back. whenever heartburn strikes get fast relelief with tums. it s time to love food back. tum tum tum t tum tums
it wassy in small feat. it took a whole team and one green wall. take a look. thank you. turning cnn s washington studio c into a virtual world is no small feat. a team of lighting specialists, graphic designers and studio personnel all worked in concert to get all of the elements just right. it looks better. it s a lot less we are get. the logo is actually blue. attention paid to the most minute details. see how the shadow is hitting like that? it s going to look natural in the environment. after shooting in front of a green screen, the task of making