EXCLUSIVE: Chris Shaw has left the building.
Semi-retirement beckons, but not before a valedictory interview.
So is this Shaw unleashed?
Chris ShawGettt
It will take more than a jolly phone interview to break the habit of a career.
Broadcast news is slap bang middle of whats loosely called the culture wars, Shaw says.
Its hard to imagine either being booked to host ITN output.
‘The Queen’s Green Planet’
Hes got a fantastic way of communicating complicated stories with an everyman tone, he says.
Shaw does worry, however, that ITNs broadcasting clients could get drowned out by the noise.
Journalists have left for transgressions, most notably former ITV News presenterAlastair Stewart in 2020.
Ironically, Stewart ended up at GB News before his own retirement last week.
Everyone was dishing it out around the time of that [2019] election and it got pretty fractious…
I dont think Channel Four News did anything wrong in that period, but things got pretty ugly.
The government threatened to review Channel 4s broadcasting license.
The ice sculpture became emblematic of a poke-in-the-eye culture at Channel 4 News regarding the government.
It was a bit of fun, it was an absolutely harmless piece of fun.
The ice sculpture became shorthand for a strained relationship.
Wasnt there something faintly preposterous about all that?
When not making mischief, Channel 4 News has had a hand in some of Shaws most memorable work.
Did they know straight away that the footage was explosive?
Semi-retirement will be rather more sedate than the rush of these big exclusives.
Shaw has just purchased his first iPhone after being welded to a work phone for much of his career.
Shaw might be stepping back from storytelling, but hes not done with telling stories.
