Shepard Smith blasts 'vilification' of journalists in first post-Fox speech

[Mike 03]

WAPO

Full headline: Shepard Smith, a Trump target, blasts ‘vilification’ of journalists in his first post-Fox News speech

Weeks after abruptly resigning from Fox News, Shepard Smith found himself back in front of cameras Thursday night — only the longtime anchor wasn’t seated behind a news desk. Instead, speaking at an awards and benefit dinner, Smith condemned governments for attempting to “censor and stifle” journalists and took veiled shots at President Trump in his first public comments since leaving the network, where he was a regular target of the president’s ire.

“Intimidation and vilification of the press is now a global phenomenon,” Smith said onstage in New York at the event put on by the Committee to Protect Journalists. “We don’t have to look far for evidence of that.”

Ahead of Smith’s sudden departure from the network in October, the 23-year Fox News veteran and vocal Trump critic was frequently singled out by the president, who regularly rails against “fake news” and calls journalists “enemies of the people.” On Thursday, Smith pledged to donate $500,000 of his own money to the nonprofit, and while he never mentioned Trump by name, he called out those in power who wield “online tools” to “dispatch troll armies after critical reporters.”

Smith began his opening remarks by describing a free press as “the underpinning of a democracy,” adding that it “cannot be taken for granted.” This year’s International Press Freedom Awards recognized journalists from Brazil, India, Nicaragua, Tanzania and Pakistan, whom Smith praised for standing up to authoritarian leaders and governments through their reporting.

“Nations are becoming far less tolerant of an independent press,” Smith said. “Sure, journalists continue to be murdered or thrown in prison when they speak out, but governments have learned other, less crude, techniques to censor and stifle our work.”

More at link: https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/11/22/shepard-smith-trump-blasts-vilification-media-first-speech-post-fox-news/