Shepard Smith

Shepard Smith
Shepard Smith hosting Studio B
Born	David Shepard Smith Jr. January 14, 1964 (1964-01-14) (age 47) Holly Springs, Mississippi, United States
Occupation	News anchor for Fox News Channel
Other names	Shep
Notable credit(s)	• Studio B anchor • The Fox Report anchor
Official website

David Shepard Smith, Jr. (born January 14, 1964), known better as Shepard Smith, is an American television news anchor. He is host of Fox Report with Shepard Smith and Studio B weekdays on Fox News Channel. In addition, he anchors the 5:00 p.m. ET weekday news update on Fox News Radio, also titled Fox Report.

Early life

Smith was born in Holly Springs, Mississippi, the son of Dora Ellen Anderson, an English teacher, and David Shepard Smith, Sr., a cotton merchant. He attended Marshall Academy, a K–12 private school in Holly Springs, but completed his senior year of high school in Florida, where he, his mother, and brother moved after his parents separated.^[1][2][3] Smith went on to attend the University of Mississippi. He majored in journalism, but left two credits away from graduation. He frequently returns to the university during college football season and delivered the university's annual commencement address on May 10, 2008.^[1][4]

Journalism career

Smith signed his first television contract with WJHG-TV in Panama City Beach, Florida. He worked as a reporter for WCJB-TV in Gainesville, Florida (1985), a reporter for WBBH-TV in Fort Myers, reporter/anchor in Miami with WSVN and as a reporter at WCPX-TV (now WKMG-TV) in Orlando. In Los Angeles, California he was a correspondent for A Current Affair. He joined the Fox News Channel at its inception in 1996.

Smith has been assigned to cover many major news stories during his career. In 1997, he reported on the death and funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales. In November 2000, he was sent to Florida to cover the Florida ballot counting controversy during the United States Presidential election. In 2001, he traveled to Terre Haute, Indiana, to be one of the media witnesses to the execution of Timothy McVeigh. In late August 2005, he spent a little over a week in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana, to provide news reports on the events and aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

The Fox Report with Shepard Smith remains the top-rated newscast in cable news and is ranked third in the top programs in U.S. cable news.^[5] Shepard Smith tied for second (along with Dan Rather and Peter Jennings) as the most trusted news anchor on both network and cable news in a 2003 TV Guide poll.^[6] In addition to anchoring Fox News Channel's flagship news program, Smith also anchors most prime time news presentations provided by Fox News for the Fox television network.

On November 19, 2007, The New York Times reported that Smith had signed a three-year contract giving him between US$7 and 8 million per year. This contract places Smith into the same pay league as anchor Brian Williams of NBC and former anchor Charles Gibson of ABC.^[7] Smith renewed his contract with Fox on October 26, 2010, for another three years.^[8]

Appearances in film

Smith has appeared as himself in the film Volcano. Video of Smith anchoring on Fox News Channel during the opening moments of the March 2003 Iraq War was also used in the film Fahrenheit 9/11.

Personal life

Smith married Virginia Donald, a University of Mississippi classmate, in 1987. They divorced in 1993 with no children.^[1][2]

In November 2000, Smith found himself the subject of the news, while he was in Florida covering the Florida ballot counting controversy. The St. Petersburg Times reported that he had been arrested on November 17 for aggravated battery with a motor vehicle after he allegedly hit a woman with his car during an argument over a parking space.^[9] The alleged victim was Maureen Walsh, another reporter who was also in Florida covering the election controversy; she was released from the hospital with bruises on her knees from the incident.^[10] According to the Tallahassee Democrat, on July 20, 2001, the charge "was reduced to misdemeanor battery" and dismissed after an out-of-court settlement in June 2001.^[11]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Lynch, Jason (April 28, 2003). "Cable King". People 59 (16). http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20139878,00.html. Retrieved July 22, 2009. 
2. ^ ^{a b} Ricchiardi, Sherry (December/January 2010). "The Anti-Anchor". American Journalism Review. http://www.ajr.org/Article.asp?id=4841. Retrieved December 8, 2009. 
3. ^ Hatfield, William (July 13, 2009). "How Destin Hardee's helped launch Shephard Smith to Studio B at Fox News". The Destin Log. http://www.thedestinlog.com/articles/news-10033-destin-shephard.html. Retrieved December 9, 2009. 
4. ^ Diggs, Mitchell (May 1, 2008). "Fox News Anchor Shepard Smith to Deliver Commencement Address May 10". University of Mississippi Newsdesk. Archived from the original on May 11, 2008. http://www.webcitation.org/5XkJskU6z. 
5. ^ "Meet the Hosts of FOX News". XMRadio.com. http://www.xmradio.com/onxm/channelbio.xmc?ch=121. Retrieved November 11, 2006. 
6. ^ "Poll ranks NBC's Brokaw most trusted news anchor". USA Today. April 2, 2003. http://www.usatoday.com/money/media/2003-04-02-trusted-anchors_x.htm. Retrieved April 10, 2008. 
7. ^ Carter, Bill (November 19, 2007). "Fox Cable Guy Edges Into the Big Pay Leagues". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/19/business/media/19cable.html. Retrieved May 30, 2008. 
8. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (October 26, 2010). "Shepard Smith Inks New Fox News Deal". Deadline.com. http://www.deadline.com/2010/10/shepard-smith-inks-new-deal-with-fox-news/. Retrieved February 27, 2011. 
9. ^ Oppel, Shelby (November 18, 2000). "National TV anchor is accused of battery". St. Petersburg Times. http://www.sptimes.com/News/111800/news_pf/State/National_TV_anchor_is.shtml. Retrieved October 8, 2006. 
10. ^ Foster, Julie (July 9, 2001). "Fox's Shepard Smith goes unpunished". WND.com. http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=9925. Retrieved September 26, 2011. 
11. ^ "Charge against news anchor dismissed". Tallahassee Democrat. July 20, 2001. http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?s_site=tallahassee&f_site=tallahassee&f_sitename=Tallahassee+Democrat&p_theme=gannett&p_product=TD&p_action=search&p_field_base-0=&p_text_base-0=shepard+smith&p_perpage=10&p_maxdocs=200&p_queryname=700&s_search_type=keyword&p_sort=_rank_%3AD&p_field_date-0=YMD_date&p_params_date-0=date%3AB%2CE&p_text_date-0=. Retrieved November 11, 2006. ^{[dead link]}

External links

• Biography at FoxNews.com
• Shepard Smith at the Internet Movie Database
• Studio B official website
• Fox Report official website

Persondata
Name	Smith, Shepard
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1964-01-14
Place of birth	Holly Springs, Mississippi, USA
Date of death
Place of death