Ed Henry Opens Up On Move from CNN to Fox News

By Alex Weprin 

Fox News Channel chief White House correspondent Ed Henry speaks to Men’s Health about his big career change. Henry is candid, and says for a time he considered leaving journalism altogether, before realizing he wanted to stay in the business. Ultimately he said FNC “offered him the best deal,” so he took it.

Henry’s wife Shirley remains at CNN as a producer, so even though he left the channel, he says he remains fond of all of the people there:

MH: Speaking of making friends, big news networks are accused of having biases, and leaving CNN for Fox News is like leaving the Yankees for the Red Sox.

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EH: (laughs) Funny you make that comparison. An L.A. Times blog post about me said the same thing, that me leaving CNN for Fox was like leaving the Yankees for the Red Sox. But I’m a Yankee fan, so to correct that, I went from the Red Sox to the Yankees. (laughs) Hey, they’re rivals, there’s no doubt about it. So that’s been exhilarating in some ways because I’m a Yankee fan—and they win. And in this case, Fox is number one, and it’s nice to play for a winner.

But here’s the thing about news rivalries. I now work on the same team as [Fox News anchor] Bret Baier, but for a long time we were competitors and rivals. But we would also travel around the world together on press charters following President Bush to a dozen countries. You end up having a beer with a guy or sitting next to him on an 8-hour flight and you get to know each other as people. So I think people make too much out of the network rivalries. My wife works at CNN, we met there and I had 7 great years there. So I’ll always have nice things to say about the people there. If I don’t, I’ll get in trouble with my wife.

Henry was also asked about his verbal back-and-forth with White house press secretary Jay Carney:

MH: Do you think Jay Carney would’ve given you a hard time if you still had CNN on your credentials?

EH: As far as Jay Carney, I get along fine with Jay. We were just doing our jobs. I have to ask direct questions and get the story; he has to serve the Obama administration to the best of his abilities. But he is a Red Sox fan and I’m a Yankee fan, so maybe that’s it. (laughs)

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