David Shepard Smith Jr. (born January 14, 1964) is an American former broadcast

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

. He served as chief general

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. ...

and host of '' The News with Shepard Smith'' on

CNBC CNBC is an American List of business news channels, business news channel owned by the NBCUniversal News Group, a unit of Comcast's NBCUniversal. The network broadcasts live business news and analysis programming during the morning, Day ...

, a daily evening newscast launched in late September 2020; but his program was canceled in November 2022. Smith is best known for his 23-year career at the

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 ...

, which he joined at its 1996 inception and where he served as chief anchor and

managing editor A managing editor (ME) is a senior member of a publication's management team. Typically, the managing editor reports directly to the editor-in-chief and oversees all aspects of the publication. United States In the United States, a managing edi ...

of the breaking news division. Smith hosted several programs in his tenure at Fox, including Fox Report, '' Studio B'' and '' Shepard Smith Reporting.''

Early life and education

Smith was born in

Holly Springs, Mississippi Holly Springs is a city in and the county seat of Marshall County, Mississippi, Marshall County, Mississippi, United States, near the border with Tennessee to the north. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 6,96 ...

, the son of Dora Ellen Anderson, an English teacher, and David Shepard Smith Sr., a cotton merchant. He attended Marshall Academy in Holly Springs. After high school, his parents separated and he moved to Florida with his mother. He studied journalism at the

University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi (Epithet, byname Ole Miss) is a Public university, public research university in University, near Oxford, Mississippi, United States, with a University of Mississippi Medical Center, medical center in Jackson, Miss ...

, where he left two credits shy of a degree to take a reporter job in

Panama City, Florida Panama City is a city in and the county seat of Bay County, Florida, United States. Located along U.S. Route 98 in Florida, U.S. Highway 98 (US 98), it is the largest city between Tallahassee, Florida, Tallahassee and Pensacola, Florida, Pe ...

. Smith delivered the university's 155th

commencement address In the United States, a commencement speech or commencement address is a speech given to graduating students, generally at a university, although the term is also used for secondary education institutions and in similar institutions around the ...

on May 10, 2008.

Career

Local television

Smith began his career in television with WCJB-TV in

Gainesville, Florida Gainesville is the county seat of Alachua County, Florida, United States, and the most populous city in North Central Florida, with a population of 145,212 in 2022. It is the principal city of the Gainesville metropolitan area, Florida, Gainesv ...

, and then with WJHG-TV in

Panama City Beach, Florida Panama City Beach is a resort town in the Florida Panhandle, and principal city of the Panama City Metropolitan Area. It is a popular vacation destination, especially among people in the Southern United States, and is located in the "Emerald C ...

. After reporting jobs at WBBH-TV in

Fort Myers A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Lati ...

, WSVN in Miami and WCPX-TV (now

WKMG-TV WKMG-TV (channel 6) is a television station in Orlando, Florida, United States, affiliated with CBS and owned by Graham Media Group. The station's studios are located on John Young Parkway ( SR 423) in Orlando, and its transmitter is located o ...

) in

Orlando Orlando commonly refers to: * Orlando, Florida, a city in the United States Orlando may also refer to: People * Orlando (given name), a masculine name, includes a list of people with the name * Orlando (surname), includes a list of people wit ...

, Smith became a correspondent for '' A Current Affair''.

Fox News

After working as a correspondent for Fox affiliate service News Edge, Smith joined Fox News Channel at its inception in 1996. At Fox News, Smith reported on the death of Princess Diana in 1997, President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

's 1998 impeachment trial, the 1999

Columbine High School massacre A school shooting and attempted bombing occurred on April 20, 1999, at Columbine High School in Columbine, Colorado, United States. The perpetrators, twelfth-grade students Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, murdered 13 students and one teach ...

, the 2001 execution of Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh,

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a powerful, devastating and historic tropical cyclone that caused 1,392 fatalities and damages estimated at $125 billion in late August 2005, particularly in the city of New Orleans and its surrounding area. ...

in 2005 and the death of Michael Jackson in 2009. In 2003, ''The Fox Report with Shepard Smith'' was ranked third among the top five U.S. cable news programs, and Smith tied for second with

Dan Rather Daniel Irvin Rather Jr. (; born October 31, 1931) is an American journalist, commentator, and former national evening news anchor. He began his career in Texas, becoming a national name after his reporting saved thousands of lives during Hurrica ...

and

Peter Jennings Peter Charles Archibald Ewart Jennings (July 29, 1938August 7, 2005) was a Canadian-American television journalist. He was best known for serving as the sole anchor of ''ABC World News Tonight'' from 1983 until his death from lung cancer in 200 ...

as the most-trusted news anchor on both network and cable news. On November 19, 2007, Smith signed a three-year contract for $7–$8 million per year. He renewed his contract with Fox on October 26, 2010, for another three years. On September 12, 2013, he became

of Fox News

breaking news Breaking news, also called late-breaking news, a special report, special coverage, or a news flash, is a current issue that warrants the interruption of a scheduled broadcast in order to report its details. News broadcasters also use the term ...

division and the host of ''Shepard Smith Reporting''. In September 2012, while covering live helicopter footage of an

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

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. 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 The Clinton Foundation (founded in 2001 as the William J. Clinton Presidential Foundation, and renamed in 2013 as the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation) is a nonprofit organization under section 501(c)(3) of the U.S. tax code. It was e ...

. Smith's reporting put him at odds with colleague and Fox prime time host

Sean Hannity Sean Patrick Hannity (born December 30, 1961) is an American conservative television presenter, broadcaster and writer. He hosts ''The Sean Hannity Show'', a radio syndication, nationally syndicated talk radio show, has hosted a Hannity, sel ...

, who had supported the claim against Hillary Clinton. On March 15, 2018, Fox News signed Smith to a multi-year contract. On October 11, 2019, he announced on ''Shepard Smith Reporting'' that he was leaving the network. In a 2021 interview with

Christiane Amanpour Christiane Maria Heideh AmanpourStated on ''Finding Your Roots'', 22 January 2019 (; ; born 12 January 1958) is a British-Iranian journalist and television host. Amanpour is the Chief International Anchor for CNN and host of CNN International, ...

on her eponymous show on

CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...

, he stated that his presence on Fox had become "untenable" due to the "falsehoods" and "lies" intentionally spread on the network's shows.

CNBC

On July 8, 2020, the business and economic news network

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 " imsto go beyond financial markets, 'to tell rich, deeply reported stories across the entire landscape of global news.'" CNBC had previously aired a similarly named program in the same time slot, hosted by

Brian Williams Brian Douglas Williams (born May 5, 1959) is an American journalist and television news anchor. He was a correspondent for ''NBC Nightly News'' starting in 1993, before his promotion to anchorman, anchor and managing editor of the broadcast in ...

and later John Seigenthaler, from 2002 to 2004. His program was canceled in November 2022 and he left CNBC that month.

Post-Fox career

In a speech to the International Press Freedom Awards on November 21, 2019, Smith warned of

authoritarian Authoritarianism is a political system characterized by the rejection of political plurality, the use of strong central power to preserve the political ''status quo'', and reductions in democracy, separation of powers, civil liberties, and ...

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. At the event, Smith gave $500,000 to the host organization, the

Committee to Protect Journalists The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in New York City, with correspondents around the world. CPJ promotes press freedom and defends the rights of journalists. The '' American Journalism ...

Appearances in film

Smith appeared as himself in the 1997 film ''

Volcano A volcano is commonly defined as a vent or fissure in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most oft ...

''. Video of Smith anchoring on Fox during the opening moments of the March 2003

Iraq War The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with 2003 invasion of Iraq, the invasion by a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition, which ...

was used in the film '' Fahrenheit 9/11''. Additionally, archive footage of Smith anchoring ''Shepard Smith Reporting'' covering the

2016 US presidential election Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 8, 2016. The Republican ticket of businessman Donald Trump and Indiana governor Mike Pence defeated the Democratic ticket of former secretary of state Hillary Clinton and ...

was used in the 2019 docudrama ''Bombshell''.

Personal life

Smith married Virginia Donald, a

classmate, in 1987. They divorced in 1993 with no children. In 2017, Smith publicly announced he is gay and has a long-time boyfriend. 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."

References

External links

Shepard Smith's Bio on FoxNews.com
(archived October 3, 2019)
''Shepard Smith Reporting'' on FoxNews.com
(archived October 11, 2019) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Shepard 1964 births 20th-century American journalists American male journalists 21st-century American journalists American television news anchors American television reporters and correspondents Fox News people Gay journalists Journalists from Mississippi LGBTQ people from Mississippi American LGBTQ broadcasters American LGBTQ journalists American gay writers Living people People from Holly Springs, Mississippi University of Mississippi alumni Managing editors