ITN editorial director Chris Shaw steps down after 25 years at news company

Chris Shaw, the editorial director of UK-based media production and broadcast journalism company ITN, is stepping down after 25 years at the firm.

Chris Shaw

During his time at ITN, Shaw has worked in senior roles on ITV News, Channel 4 News and Five News, as well as helping build ITN Productions into a profitable business.

Programmes launched by Shaw include 5 News, The Wright Stuff – now the Jeremy Vine Show – Sky News and Big Breakfast News.

Shaw’s TV career began at ITV News in 1985 when he was hired as a writer and producer, working on News at Ten and the Evening News, then known as the 545. He left the company briefly to help launch Sky News in 1989 but returned two years later as a field producer and as a home and foreign news editor on Channel 4 News.

He then moved back to ITV as programme editor of News at Ten when it was relaunched in 1992 with Trevor MacDonald as the sole anchor. At that time, he was also seconded to create a news service for The Big Breakfast on Channel 4 and to help set up ITN Factual, the precursor to ITN Productions.

In 1998 he was appointed to launch the news service on Channel 5, the first new network news service in the UK for 15 years, leading Channel 5 to hire him from ITN as its commissioning editor for news, current affairs and documentaries.

In 2010, Shaw returned to ITN for a second time to help run the newly formed ITN Productions division. In 2018 he was promoted to the position of editorial director of ITN. Recent programmes he has worked on include The Queen’s Green Planet with Sir David Attenborough, Harry & Meghan in Africa and most recently Harry: The Interview.

He will leave ITN at the end of March after 45 years in radio and television, to pursue other media interests and artistic challenges.

Shaw is a fellow of the Royal Television Society and was chairman of the Edinburgh International Television Festival from 2014 to 2017, and patron of the Sheffield Documentary Festival from 2003 to 2010.

ITN’s CEO Rachel Corp said: “Chris is one of the most talented editorial minds to have ever worked across ITN. It’s hard to think of another person who has had so much influence across the business. Under his leadership, ITN divisions have devised and delivered ground-breaking ideas and programmes that have gone on to win multiple awards and accolades. His tireless work has earned him an outstanding reputation as one of the most influential people in news and current affairs as well as boosting ITN’s profile.

“He has also admirably always been available to mentor staff across ITN and held senior advisory roles in the industry. It’s rare to find a leader with so much passion for their editorial work and enthusiasm to positively influence the wider network they operate in. We wish him the best of luck for the future in all that he pursues and thank him for all that he has contributed to ITN during a lifetime of work.”