Shepard Smith, shiny new contract in hand, held back nothing in his criticism of his fellow Fox News hosts.
Smith, who serves as FNC’s chief news anchor and managing editor of breaking news, has signed a multi-year contract, the company announced Thursday.
“I am incredibly proud to be part of a group of journalists who helped build the Fox news division from scratch 22 years ago and extremely thankful for the opportunity to continue to lead our breaking news coverage for years to come,” the 54-year-old anchor said in a statement.
“Our team’s commitment to delivering facts to our loyal viewers in context and with perspective, without fear or favor, is unwavering. The investment that Mr. Murdoch has infused into our already strong news division affords us endless opportunities. I am excited for the future and honored to continue to call Fox News my home.”
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Smith, who was one of the network’s original hires in 1996, has been one of the few Fox employees to stray from the company line, including contradicting President Trump’s claims that the investigation into possible Russian interference in the 2016 election was a Democratic “hoax.”
“This is an American investigation. And this is not a hoax,” he said on air in February.
“The Russians interfered, the Russians were given sanctions by Congress, the President has not put those sanctions into place, and the question is why.”
The well-regarded anchor, who Rupert Murdoch described as an “exemplary journalist,” says the line between news and opinion on the network is clearly drawn — and he knows which side he’s on.
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“We serve different masters. We work for different reporting chains, we have different rules. They don’t really have rules on the opinion side. They can say whatever they want,” he told Time magazine in an interview published Thursday that didn’t go quite far enough to call out co-workers like Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson.
“I get it, that some of our opinion programming is there strictly to be entertaining. I get that. I don’t work there. I wouldn’t work there. I don’t want to sit around and yell at each other and talk about your philosophy and my philosophy. That sounds horrible to me.”
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