Fox News Channel’s Bill Hemmer will replace recently-departed anchor Shepard Smith in his afternoon time slot, according to Mediaite.
The website said Hemmer, who co-hosts Fox News show America’s Newsroom with anchor Sandra Smith, will take over Smith’s 3 p.m. slot. Hemmer joined Fox News in 2005 after following a stint as an anchor at CNN.
Smith, known for his critical coverage of President Donald Trump, surprised the corporate media in October by announcing on-air that he would be leaving the news network after 20 years.
“Recently I asked the company to allow me to leave FOX News and begin a new chapter. After requesting that I stay, they graciously obliged,” Smith said in a statement at the time. “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.”
Before joining Fox News in 1996, Smith was a Fox News Edge correspondent in Los Angeles.
Smith delivered a speech seen as a veiled shot at President Trump in late November, his first public remarks since leaving Fox News. Speaking before the 2019 International Press Freedom Awards in New York City, the veteran anchor decried the “intimidation” of journalists, calling it a “global phenomenon,” before adding: “We don’t have to look far for evidence of that.”
“Our belief a decade ago that the online revolution would liberate us now seems a bit premature,” Smith continued. “Autocrats have learned how to use those same online tools to shore up their power. They flood the world of information with garbage and lies masquerading as news… There’s a phrase for that.”
Smith, who hosted the event, also announced a personal donation of $500,000 to the Committee to Protect Journalists.
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