Who is Shepard Smith

Shepard Smith Biography 

Shepard Smith (born David Shepard Smith, Jr. on January 14, 1964) is an American television news anchor. He is host of Fox Report with Shepard Smith and Studio B weekdays on Fox News Channel. In addition, he anchors the 5:00 p.m. ET weekday news update on Fox News Radio, also titled the Fox Report.

Smith was born in Holly Springs, Mississippi, the son of Dora Ellen (nee Anderson) and David Shepard Smith, Sr. He attended Marshall Academy, a K-12 private school in Holly Springs. Smith went on to attend the University of Mississippi. Shepard Smith majored in journalism, but did not graduate. He frequently returns to the university during college football season and delivered the university's annual commencement address on May 10, 2008.

Smith signed his first television contract with WJHG-TV in Panama City Beach, Florida. He worked as a reporter for WCJB-TV in Gainesville, Florida (1985), a reporter for WBBH-TV in Fort Myers, reporter/anchor in Miami with WSVN and as a reporter at WCPX-TV (now WKMG-TV) in Orlando. In Los Angeles, California he was a correspondent for A Current Affair. He joined the Fox News Channel at its inception in 1996.

Smith has been assigned to cover many major news stories during his career. In 1997, he reported on the death and funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales. In November 2000, he was sent to Florida to cover the Florida ballot counting controversy during the United States Presidential election. In 2001, he traveled to Terre Haute, Indiana, to be one of the media witnesses to the execution of Timothy McVeigh. In late August 2005, he spent a little over a week in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana, to provide news reports on the events and aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

The Fox Report with Shepard Smith remains the top-rated newscast in cable news and is ranked third in the top programs in U.S. cable news. Shepard Smith tied for second (along with Dan Rather and Peter Jennings) as the most trusted news anchor on both network and cable news in a 2003 TV Guide poll. In addition to anchoring Fox News Channel's flagship news program, Smith also anchors most prime time news presentations provided by Fox News for the Fox television network.

On November 19, 2007, The New York Times reported that Smith had signed a three-year contract giving him between US $7 and 8 million per year. This contract places Smith into the same pay league as anchors Brian Williams of NBC and Charles Gibson of ABC.