Shepard Smith
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David Shepard Smith Jr. (born January 14, 1964)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> is an American former broadcast journalist.<ref name="MT">Template:Cite news</ref> He served as chief general news anchor and host of The News with Shepard Smith on CNBC, a daily evening newscast launched in late September 2020;<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> but his program was canceled in November 2022. Smith is best known for his 23-year career at the Fox News Channel, which he joined at its 1996 inception and where he served as chief anchor and managing editor of the breaking news division.<ref name="auto">Template:Cite press release</ref> Smith hosted several programs in his tenure at Fox, including Fox Report, Studio B and Shepard Smith Reporting.<ref name="auto"/>
Early life and educationEdit
Smith was born in Holly Springs, Mississippi, the son of Dora Ellen Anderson, an English teacher, and David Shepard Smith Sr., a cotton merchant.<ref name="MT"/> He attended Marshall Academy in Holly Springs.<ref name="MT"/> After high school, his parents separated and he moved to Florida with his mother.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He studied journalism at the University of Mississippi, where he left two credits shy of a degree to take a reporter job in Panama City, Florida.<ref name="ppl030428">Template:Cite magazine</ref> Smith delivered the university's 155th commencement address on May 10, 2008.<ref name="olemiss580">Template:Cite news</ref>
CareerEdit
Local televisionEdit
Smith began his career in television with WCJB-TV in Gainesville, Florida,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and then with WJHG-TV in Panama City Beach, Florida.<ref name="auto1">Template:Cite news</ref> After reporting jobs at WBBH-TV in Fort Myers, WSVN in Miami and WCPX-TV (now WKMG-TV) in Orlando,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Smith became a correspondent for A Current Affair.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Fox NewsEdit
After working as a correspondent for Fox affiliate service News Edge, Smith joined Fox News Channel at its inception in 1996.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> At Fox News, Smith reported on the death of Princess Diana in 1997, President Bill Clinton's 1998 impeachment trial, the 1999 Columbine High School massacre,<ref name="auto1"/> the 2001 execution of Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and the death of Michael Jackson in 2009.<ref name="auto1"/>
In 2003, The Fox Report with Shepard Smith was ranked third among the top five U.S. cable news programs,<ref name="xm1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and Smith tied for second with Dan Rather and Peter Jennings as the most-trusted news anchor on both network and cable news.<ref name="tvguidepoll">Template:Cite news</ref> On November 19, 2007, Smith signed a three-year contract for $7–$8 million per year.<ref name="nyt19c">Template:Cite news</ref> He renewed his contract with Fox on October 26, 2010, for another three years.<ref name="deadline101026">Template:Cite news</ref> On September 12, 2013, he became managing editor of Fox News breaking news division and the host of Shepard Smith Reporting.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In September 2012, while covering live helicopter footage of an Arizona police chase of a man after a carjacking, the man shot himself live while Smith was narrating. After a commercial break Smith apologized and told the audience that it was "due to human error". Fox would later be sued for the incident by the man's wife after her children saw the video.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In November 2017, Smith infuriated some Fox viewers when he countered the Uranium One conspiracy theory, which claims that the Obama administration intervened corruptly in a deal allowing a Russian company to buy Uranium One, a Canadian company with uranium mining interests in the US in exchange for donations to the Clinton Foundation.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Smith's reporting put him at odds with colleague and Fox prime time host Sean Hannity, who had supported the claim against Hillary Clinton.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
On March 15, 2018, Fox News signed Smith to a multi-year contract.<ref name="time20180315">Template:Cite magazine</ref> On October 11, 2019, he announced on Shepard Smith Reporting that he was leaving the network.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}Template:Cbignore</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
In a 2021 interview with Christiane Amanpour on her eponymous show on CNN, he stated that his presence on Fox had become "untenable" due to the "falsehoods" and "lies" intentionally spread on the network's shows.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
CNBCEdit
On July 8, 2020, the business and economic news network CNBC announced Smith would join the network as chief general news anchor and chief general breaking news anchor. Smith served as the host of The News with Shepard Smith, a primetime general news program that aired weekdays at 7:00 pm. ET and launched on September 30, 2020. According to a CNBC press release, the program "[aims] to go beyond financial markets, 'to tell rich, deeply reported stories across the entire landscape of global news.'"<ref name="cnbc20200708">Template:Cite news</ref> CNBC had previously aired a similarly named program in the same time slot, hosted by Brian Williams and later John Seigenthaler, from 2002 to 2004.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> His program was canceled in November 2022 and he left CNBC that month.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Post-Fox careerEdit
In a speech to the International Press Freedom Awards on November 21, 2019, Smith warned of authoritarian governments that make it dangerous and difficult for journalists to do their jobs, saying autocrats have learned to use online tools and social media to shore up their power.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> At the event, Smith gave $500,000 to the host organization, the Committee to Protect Journalists.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Appearances in filmEdit
Smith appeared as himself in the 1997 film Volcano.
Video of Smith anchoring on Fox during the opening moments of the March 2003 Iraq War was used in the film Fahrenheit 9/11. Additionally, archive footage of Smith anchoring Shepard Smith Reporting covering the 2016 US presidential election was used in the 2019 docudrama Bombshell.
Personal lifeEdit
Smith married Virginia Donald, a University of Mississippi classmate, in 1987. They divorced in 1993 with no children.<ref name="ppl030428" /><ref name="ajr1001">Template:Cite news</ref>
In 2017, Smith publicly announced he is gay and has a long-time boyfriend.<ref name="time20180315" /><ref name="nydnews20170508">Template:Cite news</ref> In a speech at the University of Mississippi, Smith would say, "...it wasn’t until seven, or eight, or nine years ago, I started living my truth ... And when I told the truth, I guess it was considered that I outed myself. I didn’t even think about it because I didn’t think I was in."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
See alsoEdit
- LGBT culture in New York City
- List of LGBT people from New York City
- New Yorkers in journalism
- NYC Pride March
ReferencesEdit
External linksEdit
- Shepard Smith's Bio on FoxNews.com (archived October 3, 2019)
- Shepard Smith Reporting on FoxNews.com (archived October 11, 2019)
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