Jane Skinner (born February 12, 1967) is an American former daytime
news anchor
A news presenter – also known as a newsreader, newscaster (short for "news broadcaster"), anchorman or anchorwoman, news anchor or simply an anchor – is a person who presents news during a news program on TV, radio or the Internet. ...
who worked for
Fox News
The Fox News Channel (FNC), commonly known as Fox News, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conservatism in the United States, conservative List of news television channels, news and political commentary Television stati ...
, co-hosting ''Happening Now'' with
Jon Scott from 11 am to 1 pm ET.
On June 24, 2010, she announced on-air her retirement from her daytime news anchor position at the end of her usual ''Happening Now'' segment, citing a desire to spend more time with her family. She is married to NFL Commissioner
Roger Goodell
Roger Stokoe Goodell (born February 19, 1959) is an American businessman who has served as the National Football League Commissioner, commissioner of the National Football League (NFL) since 2006.
Goodell began his NFL career in 1982 as an admi ...
.
Early life
Jane Skinner was raised in
Lake Forest, Illinois
Lake Forest is a city located in Lake County, Illinois, United States. Per the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 19,367. The city is along the shore of Lake Michigan, and is a part of the Chicago metropolitan area and t ...
, and graduated from
Lake Forest High School in 1985. Skinner received her bachelor's and master's degrees from
Northwestern University
Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...
.
Career
Broadcast journalism
Skinner began her career as a reporter for
KBJR in
Duluth, Minnesota
Duluth ( ) is a Port, port city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of St. Louis County, Minnesota, St. Louis County. Located on Lake Superior in Minnesota's Arrowhead Region, the city is a hub for cargo shipping. The population ...
, before working for
WCSH in
Portland, Maine
Portland is the List of municipalities in Maine, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine and the county seat, seat of Cumberland County, Maine, Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 at the 2020 census. The Portland metropolit ...
.
She left Portland in 1993 to become a reporter for
KMOV
KMOV (channel 4) is a television station in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, affiliated with CBS and MyNetworkTV. It is owned by Gray Media alongside low-power station KDTL-LD (channel 4.6). The two stations share studios on Progress Park ...
in
St. Louis.
In January 1995, she became the weekend evening anchor for
WITI in
Milwaukee
Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...
after that station became a
Fox affiliate. At the time she married Goodell in 1997, she left Milwaukee to move to Manhattan.
After freelancing for
WNBC
WNBC (channel 4) is a television station in New York City that serves as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship of the NBC network. It is owned and operated by the network's NBC Owned Television Stations division alongside Linden, New Jersey� ...
, Skinner was hired by
Fox News Channel
The Fox News Channel (FNC), commonly known as Fox News, is an American multinational conservative news and political commentary television channel and website based in New York City, U.S. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is ow ...
as a correspondent and weekend anchor. Before co-anchoring ''Happening Now'', Skinner hosted the 2 p.m. ET edition of ''
Fox News Live'' and hosted a segment on ''
Studio B'' called "Skinnerville". Prior to that she hosted ''Sunday Best'', which featured highlights from the previous week's programming on the channel. She was also featured for a time on ''The Big Story with John Gibson''. Skinner left Fox News in 2010.
Production
After departing Fox News, Skinner rarely made public statements.
Between 2019 and 2022, Skinner created three projects that highlighted women in the
National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...
. She co-executive produced
NFL Films's "A Lifetime of Sundays" - a documentary about four female NFL owners:
Norma Hunt of the
Kansas City Chiefs
The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division.
Established in 1959 ...
,
Virginia Halas McCaskey of the
Chicago Bears
The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...
, Martha Ford of the
Detroit Lions
The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...
and Patricia Rooney of the
Pittsburgh Steelers
The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. Founded in 1933 P ...
. She also co-produced the "Earnin' It: The NFL's Forward Progress"
podcast
A podcast is a Radio program, program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. Typically, a podcast is an Episode, episodic series of digital audio Computer file, files that users can download to a personal device or str ...
and co-executive produced
Peacock
Peafowl is a common name for two bird species of the genus '' Pavo'' and one species of the closely related genus '' Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae (the pheasants and their allies). Male peafowl are referred t ...
's five-part TV series about influential women in football with the same title. In 2024, Skinner worked with Peyton Manning's Omaha Productions to co-executive produce "The Buddy Way," a documentary on the life of visionary Dartmouth College football coach Buddy Teevens.
Personal life
Her father is
Sam Skinner, former
Secretary of Transportation and
White House Chief of Staff
The White House chief of staff is the head of the Executive Office of the President of the United States, a position in the federal government of the United States.
The chief of staff is a Political appointments in the United States, politi ...
under President
George H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker BushBefore the outcome of the 2000 United States presidential election, he was usually referred to simply as "George Bush" but became more commonly known as "George H. W. Bush", "Bush Senior," "Bush 41," and even "Bush th ...
.
On October 25, 1997, she married now-
NFL Commissioner
The commissioner of the National Football League is the chief executive officer of the National Football League (NFL). The position was created in 1941. The current commissioner is Roger Goodell, who assumed office on September 1, 2006.
Until 1 ...
Roger Goodell
Roger Stokoe Goodell (born February 19, 1959) is an American businessman who has served as the National Football League Commissioner, commissioner of the National Football League (NFL) since 2006.
Goodell began his NFL career in 1982 as an admi ...
. The two moved from Manhattan to
Westchester, New York, in 2005 and have twin daughters.
In 2016, Skinner—a collector of contemporary art—was named to the board of the
Dia Art Foundation. Skinner also serves on the board of the Women's Coaching Alliance.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Skinner, Jane
1967 births
Living people
Television anchors from Chicago
American reporters and correspondents
American television journalists
American women television journalists
Fox News people
Lake Forest High School (Illinois) alumni
Northwestern University alumni
20th-century American women
20th-century American women journalists
20th-century American journalists
21st-century American women journalists
21st-century American journalists