This afternoon, Fox “News” anchor Shepard Smith is departing the network after 23 years on his own terms. The show will continue with fill-in hosts until a new host is announced.
Smith has told the truth that most brainwashed FNC regular viewers didn’t want to hear. He has hosted breaking news coverage/news alert cut-ins on both Fox and FNC and shows such as Studio B, Fox Report’s weeknight edition, and most recently Shepard Smith Reporting.
”AG” William Barr met with News Corp CEO Rupert Murdoch a couple of days ago, and that may have been the impetus for his departure.
Trump has criticized the anchor repeatedly in recent years because he wouldn’t grovel to 45’s BS talking points by fact-checking his lies.
Jeremy Barr at THR:
In a shocking turn of events that stunned the media industry, Fox News anchor Shepard Smith announced his departure from the network after more than 23 years.
Smith is one of the faces of the network's news division and one of its most important journalistic assets. The decision was Smith's, Fox News said.
"Recently I asked the company to allow me to leave FOX News and begin a new chapter," Smith said. "After requesting that I stay, they graciously obliged. The opportunities afforded this guy from small town Mississippi have been many. It’s been an honor and a privilege to report the news each day to our loyal audience in context and with perspective, without fear or favor. I’ve worked with the most talented, dedicated and focused professionals I know and I’m proud to have anchored their work each day — I will deeply miss them.”
Sara Boboltz at HuffPost:
Longtime Fox News anchor Shepard Smith has left the network, with his final show having aired Friday afternoon.
Fox confirmed the departure on Friday, noting that a series of rotating anchors will host “Shepard Smith Reporting” at 3 p.m. ET until a new program is announced.
Washington Post’s Josh Dawsey:
Matt Gertz at Media Matters for America on how Smith’s straight shooter-style of news was used by FNC to develop a defense strategy for the basically nonexistent divide between the “news” and opinion sides of the channel:
But Smith doesn’t have his job despite his deviations from the Fox line -- he is supremely valuable to the network because of them. Fox’s core business model depends on stoking the fears of its viewers to keep them coming back, but its public relations strategy relies on being able to point to people like Smith as evidence that the network isn’t purely a right-wing megaphone. Instead, the network brass argues, Fox simply has separate “news” and “opinion” divisions like other outlets.
The result is a mutually beneficial relationship in which Fox showers Smith with wealth in return for priceless PR value. In 2007, the network signed Smith to a contract that reportedly paid him more than $7 million a year. At the time, that salary was greater than that of anyone at CNN and on par with those of broadcast network evening news anchors, who historically command bigger paydays.
[...]
What it ignores, however, is that Smith’s efforts to debunk misinformation found elsewhere on the network may break through as viral media stories, but they are buried at Fox itself under the weight of falsehoods and conspiracy theories from its higher-profile stars.
On his show today during the conclusion, he signed off from the channel for the last time.
From the 10.11.2019 edition of FNC’s Shepard Smith Reporting:
Transcript, via MMFA:
SHEP SMITH (HOST): A personal moment now. Gathering and reporting the news has been my life’s work. 33 years, the past 23 right here, since the day we launched Fox News channel in 1996. The opportunities afforded this guy from small-town Mississippi have been many. Fox News has allowed me to travel the country and the world gathering the facts of the day for you. At Columbine, Katrina, Iraq, Israel, Lebanon, 9/11, and every life-altering event along the way. I have met leaders, heroes, and victims of all stripes. I've witnessed and reported on the events that shaped our reality. Together with my colleagues we have written a first draft of history and endeavored to deliver it to you while speaking truth to power without fear, or favor, in context and with perspective. I am eternally grateful for the opportunity.
For handing me the breaking news reigns as managing editor, senior correspondent, and chief news anchor for this news network, I am thankful and humbled. I've worked with the most talented, dedicated, and focused professionals I've ever known. They sacrifice endlessly and tirelessly to get the news exactly right and I am so proud of them. I'm honored to have anchored their work each day. I'll miss them and our time together greatly and deeply. So recently I asked the company to allow me to leave Fox News after requesting that I stay they obliged.
Under our agreement, I won't be reporting elsewhere, at least in the near future, but I will be able to see more of Gio and Lucia and our friends and family and then we will see what comes along. This is my last newscast here. Thank you for watching today and over the decades as I traveled to many of your communities and anchored this program, Studio B, and Fox Report, plus endless marathon hours of breaking news. It's been an honor and my pleasure. Even in our currently polarized nation, it's my hope that the facts will win the day.
I hope a capable news network hires him to lay the smackdown on the lying liars coming out of the Trump Crime Syndicate and their cronies.