Christopher Isham is an American journalist. Isham spent nineteen years with

ABC News ABC News most commonly refers to: * ABC News (Australia), a national news service of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation * ABC News (United States), a news-gathering and broadcasting division of the American Broadcasting Company ABC News may a ...

, beginning as an associate producer in 1978, and eventually serving as ABC's Chief of Investigative Projects. He was the Chief of

CBS News CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio broadcaster CBS. It is headquartered in New York City. CBS News television programs include ''CBS Evening News'', ''CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs ''CBS News Sunday Morn ...

' Washington Bureau from 2007 to 2020. In addition to his roles with ABC and CBS, he helped build the website The Blotter with investigative reporter Brian Ross.

Life and career

Chris Isham, the son of

Heyward Isham Henry Heyward Isham (November 4, 1926 – June 18, 2009), was an American diplomat, Foreign Service Officer and editor. He was the negotiator who played an important role in the talks with North Vietnam that led to the Peace accord of 1973.Martin ...

, a Foreign Service Officer and Sheila Eaton, an artist, was born in Berlin. He

Groton School Groton School is a Private school, private, college-preparatory school, college-preparatory, day school, day and boarding school located in Groton, Massachusetts, United States. It is affiliated with the Episcopal Church (United States), Episcop ...

and graduated from

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

in 1976 and began his career in the documentary unit at

NBC News NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Media Group, a division of NBCUniversal, which is itself a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's various operations r ...

. In January 1977, Isham married Nima Farmanfarmaian, the daughter of Iranian artists Manoucher Yektai and Monir Farmanfarmaian, in

Port au Prince Port-au-Prince ( ; ; , ) is the capital and most populous city of Haiti. The city's population was estimated at 1,200,000 in 2022 with the metropolitan area estimated at a population of 2,618,894. The metropolitan area is defined by the IHSI ...

, where his father was an Ambassador to

Haiti Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...

. Isham and his wife lived in New York and were friends of pop artist

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (;''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''"Warhol" born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director and producer. A leading figure in the pop art movement, Warhol ...

. In 1978 he became an associate producer at

. In May 1998, Isham organized the first major network interview with

Osama bin Laden Osama bin Laden (10 March 19572 May 2011) was a militant leader who was the founder and first general emir of al-Qaeda. Ideologically a pan-Islamist, Bin Laden participated in the Afghan ''mujahideen'' against the Soviet Union, and support ...

, and broke other major stories exposing security threats at U.S. airports, CIA interrogation techniques, post-

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a powerful, devastating and historic tropical cyclone that caused 1,392 fatalities and damages estimated at $125 billion in late August 2005, particularly in the city of New Orleans and its surrounding area. ...

insurance fraud, and secret tapes of

Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein (28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician and revolutionary who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 1979 until Saddam Hussein statue destruction, his overthrow in 2003 during the 2003 invasion of Ira ...

. Isham was Chief of Investigative Projects for ABC News in New York from 2001-2007 where he built an investigative unit that has been recognized as one of the most successful of its kind in television news. His unit was responsible for breaking hundreds of new stories and exclusive reports on a range of topics from terrorism to political corruption. At ABC, Isham produced the programming for all ABC broadcasts including, ''

ABC World News Tonight ''ABC World News Tonight'' (titled ''ABC World News Tonight with David Muir'' for its weeknight broadcasts since September 2014) is the flagship daily evening television news program of ABC News, the news division of the American Broadcasting ...

'', ''

Nightline ''Nightline'' (or ''ABC News Nightline'') is ABC News (United States), ABC News' Late night television in the United States, late-night television news program broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC in the United States with a franchis ...

'', ''

20/20 Visual acuity (VA) commonly refers to the clarity of visual perception, vision, but technically rates an animal's ability to recognize small details with precision. Visual acuity depends on optical and neural factors. Optical factors of the eye ...

'', ''

Primetime Prime time, or peak time, is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for television shows. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to b ...

'', ''

Good Morning America ''Good Morning America'', often abbreviated as ''GMA'', is an American breakfast television, morning television program that is broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends wit ...

'',

ABC News Radio ABC News Radio is the news radio service of ABC Audio, a division of ABC News (United States), ABC News in the United States. Formerly known as ABC Radio News, ABC News Radio feeds, through Skyview Networks, five-minute newscasts on the hour ...

, and ABCNews.com. His unit also built an investigative site called the "Blotter" on ABCNews.com that broke many major stories including the Mark Foley story. Isham was the Vice President and Washington Bureau Chief for CBS News from 2007 to 2020, where he was responsible for news gathering, personnel, and technical operations for all major CBS News broadcasts. Isham faced significant questions about his journalistic ethics in 2011 when it was revealed by

the Daily Beast ''The Daily Beast'' is an American news website focused on politics, media, and pop culture. Founded in 2008, the website is owned by IAC Inc. It has been characterized as a "high-end tabloid" by Noah Shachtman, the site's editor-in-chief ...

that he was a confidential informant for the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

in the 90s.

Accolades

Isham has been the recipient of numerous major industry awards throughout his career including multiple news

Emmys The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

, two Columbia DuPont Awards, a

Peabody Award The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Foster Peabody, George Peabody, honor what are described as the most powerful, enlightening, and in ...

, four National Headliner Awards, two

Overseas Press Club The Overseas Press Club of America (OPC) was founded in 1939 in New York City by a group of foreign correspondents. The wire service reporter Carol Weld was a founding member, as was the war correspondent Peggy Hull. The club seeks to maintain ...

Awards, the ABA Gavel Award, the Joan Shorenstein Barone Award and three Edward R. Murrow Awards from the Radio Television News Directors Association (RTNDA) and an

Investigative Reporters and Editors Investigative Reporters and Editors, Inc. (IRE) is an American nonprofit organization that focuses on improving the quality of journalism, in particular investigative journalism. Formed in 1975, it presents the IRE Awards and holds conferences a ...

Award for online journalism.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Isham, Chris Living people Year of birth missing (living people) CBS News people Yale University alumni American male journalists 20th-century American journalists 21st-century American journalists American television journalists Groton School alumni