Sarah-Ann Shaw, first Black woman TV reporter in Boston, dies at 90

If you turned on Boston television news in the 1970s, you likely saw a local reporter, Sarah-Ann Shaw of WBZ-TV, who didn't look like the other journalists and who covered stories most of the others didn't.

Shaw was the first Black woman reporter on TV news in Boston, starting in 1969. She worked at WBZ for more than 30 years. She was born in the city and lived in Roxbury her entire life.

Shaw died Thursday at her home. She was 90.

One of her colleagues was Ron Mitchell, a longtime video editor and videographer at WBZ who worked on may stories with Shaw. Mitchell is now publisher of the Bay State Banner newspaper, which is based in Dorchester.

Mitchell spoke with WBUR's All Things Considered host Lisa Mullins about Shaw.

On the nature and impact of Shaw's reporting:

"Sarah-Ann Shaw was a trailblazer. She was a daughter of Roxbury, and she held her community in the highest esteem. So she made sure that when she told stories about the greater Roxbury and ... greater Black community, that she told the truth about our community. You know, back when she started, a lot of the news, especially about Roxbury, was very negative. And it was hard to get positive stories about our community, and Sarah-Ann Shaw made sure that those stories existed ... they were honest, and she was telling her truth about her community."

On her willingness to support other journalists:

"Without question, Sarah-Ann Shaw was a very unselfish reporter. I know that there's a lot of competition out there, you know, in the news business in general. Everybody wants to break the story. But I think Sarah's motivation was to share the truth about her community. She had contacts from her, you know, relationship — with being from Roxbury ... So she knew everybody. She could reach anybody. And, you know, if you were somebody else within her network that was trying to do a story about something that she felt was important, she would give you those resources. She was an educator. She taught and paved the way for many of the reporters through the 70s, 80s and 90s — many of the reporters that came up."

On how Shaw influenced him and his career:

"A lot of what I do today and the fact that I'm in this seat — the fact that I decided to buy the [Bay State Banner] a year ago with my partner — this is a level of responsibility that she instilled in me.

"She showed me the importance of telling the truth about our community and how important it is not just to tell Black folks about the Black community, but to tell all people and to also, you know, call out truth to power. She wasn't afraid of anybody.

"We will miss her greatly, but her legacy will live on."