Be an expert at something.” Up-and-coming Fox News anchor Sandra Smith always recommends this path to success to would-be journalists. The approach led her to an anchor chair on America’s Newsroom, the network’s popular three-hour morning show.
After graduating from business school and working for hedge funds in New York, Smith joined an institutional trading desk in Chicago as the only female trader. Her bosses took notice of her natural acumen, asking her to report from the trading floor on such networks as CNBC and Bloomberg TV. Soon, television producers began seeking out her fresh insight and matter-of-fact reporting style.
She ultimately transitioned to journalism full-time, briefly joining Bloomberg Television before moving to Fox Business Network in 2007 — “Just in time to cover the complete meltdown of our financial system,” Smith points out. She was lead reporter on the high-profile Bernie Madoff story, spending weeks outside his apartment, monitoring his every move. She also moderated two presidential debates for Fox Business Network.
“People believe it is hard to keep opinion out of journalism, but that’s what I try to do every day.”
Last year, she made the switch to the general-news morning show on Fox News. While Smith may naturally filter the news through a business lens, she firmly rejects the notion of any other kind of bias, although such charges are often leveled at her network. “I certainly can’t speak for all journalists; I speak for myself,” says Smith. “People believe it is hard to keep opinion out of journalism, but that’s what I try to do every day.”
A former track star at Louisiana State University, Smith finds Westchester (she moved here from the city in 2015, after her second child was born) the perfect place to keep running, “through amazing parks and the beach.” And if she’s running with headphones, safe bet she’s listening to the news.