Bella Shaw is an American TV personality,

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

and

news presenter A news presenter – also known as a newsreader, newscaster (short for "news broadcaster"), anchorman or anchorwoman, news anchor or simply an anchor – is a person who presents news during a news program on TV, radio or the Internet. ...

, known for her work on TV

infomercials An infomercial is a form of television commercial that resembles regular TV programming yet is intended to promote or sell a product, service or idea. It generally includes a toll-free telephone number or website. Most often used as a form of di ...

and prior work on

CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...

from 1984-1993 when her contract as co-host of CNN's " Showbiz Today" program was not renewed.

Professional life

Shaw attended the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma, United States. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two territories became the ...

, where she earned a degree in journalism"From the Farm Show…To CNN" - Bella Shaw
, in Élite Magazine; published November 27, 2012; retrieved March 18, 2016 while participating in the university's radio station,Anchorwoman stays current: Former CNN anchor Bella Shaw evolves with new media landscape
, by Michele E. Buttelman; in ''

the Santa Clarita Valley Signal ''The Santa Clarita Valley Signal'' is a newspaper in Santa Clarita, California, originally founded in 1919. The owners are Richard and Chris Budman. The ''Signal'' covers the city of Santa Clarita and surrounding unincorporated areas in the S ...

''; published August 26, 2012; retrieved March 18, 2016 and began working at

WKY WKY (930 AM broadcasting, AM) is a commercial radio, commercial radio station in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, owned by Cumulus Media. It is the oldest radio station in Oklahoma and among the oldest in the nation. WKY airs a sports ...

Radio in 1976. There, she was a news presenter until being laid off when the station switched to FM format; however, at that time, KTVY (now

KFOR-TV KFOR-TV (channel 4) is a television station in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group alongside KAUT-TV (channel 43), an owned-and-operated station of The CW. The two stations share stu ...

) was located in the same building, and she began working there instead. After seven years at KTVY, during which she was only given shifts on weekends, Shaw has come a long distance
by Glen Phillips, in ''

the Oklahoman ''The Oklahoman'' is the largest daily newspaper in Oklahoma, United States, and is the only regional daily that covers the Oklahoma City metropolitan area, Greater Oklahoma City area. The Alliance for Audited Media (formerly Audit Bureau Circul ...

''; published March 10, 1985; retrieved March 18, 2016 Shaw concluded that KTVY offered her no chance for career advancement, and applied to the then-nascent

Cable News Network Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable new ...

, on the grounds that "

Ted Turner Robert Edward Turner III (born November 19, 1938) is an American entrepreneur, television producer, media proprietor, and Philanthropy, philanthropist. He founded the CNN, Cable News Network (CNN), the first 24-hour United States cable news, ...

was hiring a lot of people from Oklahoma". Shaw's first day at CNN was July 12, 1984; although she had not been scheduled to appear on-camera that day, the regular news presenter was temporarily unavailable, and Shaw was chosen to report the news that

Walter Mondale Walter Frederick "Fritz" Mondale (January 5, 1928April 19, 2021) was the 42nd vice president of the United States serving from 1977 to 1981 under President Jimmy Carter. He previously served as a U.S. senator from Minnesota from 1964 to 1976. ...

had selected

Geraldine Ferraro Geraldine Anne Ferraro (August 26, 1935 March 26, 2011) was an American politician, diplomat, and attorney. She served in the United States House of Representatives from 1979 to 1985, and was the Democratic Party's nominee for vice presiden ...

as his

running mate A running mate is a person running together with another person on a joint ticket during an election. The term is most often used in reference to the person in the subordinate position (such as the vice presidential candidate running with a pre ...

for the 1984 presidential election. In 1989, she became the co-host of CNN's '' Showbiz Today'', replacing

Bill Tush William John Tush, III (born October 16, 1948) is an American news journalist and humorist. In high school, Tush showed an early interest in broadcast performance and started working in radio professionally while a Junior in High school. Tush went ...

;Cnn Remakes Its `Showbiz`
''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

''; published October 11, 1989; retrieved March 18, 2016 however, in 1993, CNN chose not to renew her contract, replacing her on ''Showbiz Today'' with Jim Moret,CNN lets news anchor go
in ''

the Dispatch ''The Dispatch'' is an American center-right subscription-based online magazine founded by Jonah Goldberg, Stephen F. Hayes, and Toby Stock. Several of ''The Dispatchs staff (including Hayes) are alumni of '' The Weekly Standard'', whi ...

''; published February 25, 1993; retrieved March 18, 2016 (via

Google News Archive Google News Archive is an extension of Google News providing free access to scanned archives of newspapers and links to other newspaper archives on the web, both free and paid. Some of the news archives date back to 18th century. There is a time ...

) which ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' attributed to Moret being perceived as "more serious" than Shaw.Shaw's out, Moret's in on CNN'S 'Showbiz'
in ''

''; published February 23, 1993; retrieved March 18, 2016 She subsequently joined Santa Clarita Valley local TV broadcasting with

Time Warner Cable Time Warner Cable Enterprises LLC was an American cable television company. Before it was acquired by Charter Communications on May 18, 2016, it was ranked the second largest cable company in the United States by revenue behind only Comcast, o ...

. Today, Shaw anchors weekly for Torrance Citicable’s “COVID-19 Today”. This show airs daily Monday-Thursday locally.

Personal life

Shaw was born in

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

, where her father was serving in the United States army, and raised in

Fort Sill, Oklahoma Fort Sill is a United States Army post north of Lawton, Oklahoma, about 85 miles (137 km) southwest of Oklahoma City. It covers almost . The fort was first built during the Indian Wars. It is designated as a National Historic Landmark an ...

. She has twice been married: first to doctor Jim Hays, and later to banker Mark Soroko who died suddenly in March 2010.

Filmography

References

External links

Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shaw, Bella University of Oklahoma alumni Living people American women journalists CNN people Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American women