Seven Years Of ‘The Fox Report’

By Brian 

Last night on FNC, Shep Smith mentioned The Fox Report’s seventh birthday.

“The look and feel was all new to national news, 60, 70 stories an hour, with live reporters on scene and some young kid anchoring with news up to the minute,” he recalled.

Hurricane Floyd was the top story that first night. “Our families and bosses were watching but not really many more of you,” he said. “That’s changed. You’ve made us number one in the cable news time slot now 67 months ago.”

Click continued to read a Q&A with Shep from the Sept. 2006 issue of Radio & Television Business Report. Carl Marcucci interviewed Shep literally as the Middle East cease fire deal came about, in between live shots on the Israeli border…





It’s 4:45 ET August 11th and Shep’s getting ready to report live from the war zone in Northern Israel. He told us he works until 6AM ET when he’s out there. We spoke to him on the phone before that report and afterward. While he was with us, news came in about the ceasefire deal. We decided to keep some of that transition in the interview, as it was pretty exciting.


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Tell us about reporting live from Northern Israel. What’s it like and how do you protect yourself?



Well there’s only so much protection you can do. Katyusha Rockets are indiscriminate and just have to listen to air raid sirens and protect yourself as best as you can. I guess we’re sort of in the position all the people in the north are in. They’re coming down, we watched bloody people today and it’s horrible on both side of the border. It’s not easy to cover but we are very well positioned here. A larger ground war began today and I’m pretty sure our group here owned the story.



Not many folks out there can anchor two TV shows a day, be on the radio and then be just as at home reporting on the front lines of a war. How do you do it?



Shep: I just have always been one who likes to be where it’s happening because the fewer filters you have between yourself and the story your covering, the more accurate you can be and the better you can know the story. It’s not just a matter of reading wires and talking to correspondents- here I’m actually living it. We have correspondents all over Lebanon for radio and television, but it’s important to be able to learn both sides from the local perspectives if you can. You can’t do it on every story




Shep: Could you hold just a minute while I do a live shot? Sure. Thank you…Hello, New York. Hey Charlotte. Good. I’m here and I’m ready…Thank you very much…One minute? Thank you… Yep, yep, until our hit? Who is it, David? Copy that. Copy that, I can see your air. On the mark. 30-seconds. Do you have a commercial break before me or not? Negative, no commercial, 30-seconds. Is it possible to see air?…Yes. “David, the news broke just a couple of hours ago when Prime Minister Ehud Olmert emerged and first told a number of members of his cabinet that he was displeased with the resolution…”






Are you all okay over there?

Shep: We’re okay, you know it’s just the news cycle is spinning out of control.

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