WASHINGTON — Shannon Bream, Fox News Sunday anchor and chief legal correspondent, sat for a keynote chat at The Business of TV News, with Tom Umstead, senior content producer, B+C Multichannel News, asking the questions. Asked about changes in the newsgathering business in recent years, Bream spoke about how social media makes most everyone a reporter. 

“We have access to more information than ever,” she said, but there’s “a whole army of people who are going to get to the scene before you can.”

Read More: Coverage From the Business of TV News Event

She also spoke about reaching younger consumers on platforms other than television. “We need to go where they are and communicate in a way that makes sense for them,” Bream said. 

Bream, a lawyer, spoke of using her mother as a gauge to make sure the more complicated stories she covers make sense with viewers in general. “Why does this matter to her?” she said, then asking, “do you get that?” after it airs. 

B+C, Multichannel News and NextTV are hosting The Business of TV News event at the Hotel Washington here May 2. 

Asked about how Fox News stands out in the cluttered media landscape, Bream said, “We do have a place that feels very much like a family.”

She also touched on Fox News using digital platforms, such as Fox Nation, to broaden its reach, and the array of content it covers. 

“News is our bread and butter,” she said, but Fox Nation provides “ways to capture new and different audiences.”

Asked about her own news sources, Bream cited social media, opinion pages and the “bank of TVs” in her office. Local news, she said, is a vital source for breaking stories. “Local sources are the heart of the news business,” she said, with key resources in a given community when news happens. 

Stepping into Fox News Sunday in 2022, Bream said the show offers “a lot of institutional knowledge.” She’s been working on relationships in the White House, Congress and elsewhere in the Beltway. “It takes relationship building, which takes some time,” she said.  

She said she asks weekly for President Joe Biden to come on, to no avail. She also said she’d be eager to “pick the brain” of Chief Justice John Roberts. 

Asked which issue may determine the election more than others, Bream mentioned immigration and abortion, but also cited the axiom “It’s the economy, stupid” in singling out the key issue. 

“The economy just permeates real life,” she said.

The Business of TV News, a new one-day event featuring Martha Raddatz, Shannon Bream, Glenn Kirschner and other major figures in television news, happens at Hotel Washington in our nation’s capital May 2. B+C, Multichannel News and NextTV are the hosts. 

The event (agenda here) is designed for everyone who works in local or national news, as it discusses election reporting, weather, multiplatform coverage and other timely topics. Register to attend the event here.

Raddatz, ABC News chief global affairs correspondent and co-anchor of This Week with George Stephanopoulos, delivers the opening keynote. Following that are panels on Election Coverage, from the on-air talent; The Growth of Local Programming, How Much Faster Can We Get Our News?, producer-focused Finding and Retaining Star-Producing Talent, and the midday keynote from Bream, the Fox News chief legal correspondent and Fox News Sunday anchor. 

After lunch, it’s a second panel about the election, this one from the executive perspective; then Beyond Broadcasting – The Pivotal Role of TV Networks, presented by CGTN America; then weather-focused panel Storm Troopers. 

Glenn Kirschner, NBC News and MSNBC legal analyst and host of Justice Matters on YouTube, delivers the closing keynote. 

Other speakers include David Chalian, CNN VP and political director; Ed O’Keefe, CBS News senior White House and political correspondent; Scott Livingston, senior VP of news, Sinclair Broadcast Group; Sean McLaughlin, VP of news, Graham Media Group; Angie Grande, senior director of streaming news channels, NBCUniversal Local; Gary Brown, CEO of Talent Dynamics; Adam Levy, executive producer and news editor, BBC News; and Angela Fritz, senior climate and weather editor, CNN. 

Shannon Bream, a 15-year Fox News veteran, has been tapped to succeed Chris Wallace as host of Fox News Sunday. She has been guest hosting the Sunday-morning public affairs show, which airs on the Fox network and repeats on Fox News Channel, since Wallace left for the now-shuttered CNN Plus.

Bream, who will be the first woman to anchor the political talk show, will continue as Fox's chief legal correspondent when she takes over as permanent host on September 11. Fox pointed out that since her guest-hosting duties began, the Sunday show's ratings have improved in overall audience and the key news demo.

Bream is a founding author of Fox News Books and since 2017 has anchored the late-night newscast Fox News @ Night, which airs from midnight to 1 a.m. ET on Fox News Channel.  

Before joining Fox News, Bream was a weekend anchor at WRC Washington and before that anchored evening and late news at WBTV Charlotte, N.C. ▪️

Fox News Channel chief legal correspondent Shannon Bream has signed a new deal to remain at Fox News. 

The multi-year pact keeps Bream atop FNC's weeknight 11 p.m. Fox News@Night program, one of the top 10 cable news shows, says Fox, according to December Nielsen numbers.  

Bream also hosts a Fox News podcast, Livin' the Bream. 

Bream joined the network in 2007. 

“Throughout her tenure, Shannon has cultivated a relationship with the FOX News’ audience that is both informative and insightful," said Fox Media CEO Suzanne Scott and Fox News President Jay Wallace. "Her extensive knowledge of Washington politics and the intricacies of the Supreme Court have led to the ongoing success of FOX News @ Night and we are looking forward to further utilizing her expertise throughout 2020 and beyond.”

Fox News will go live nightly at 11 pm with a news show anchored by network journalist Shannon Bream. 

The live, one-hour show, Fox News@ Night, will launch Oct. 30 and will offer hard news and analysis of compelling stories from Washington and across the country, according to network officials.

The series will replace a re-broadcast of Fox News’ 8 pm show Tucker Carlson Tonight. A network official said the show will have a late night encore, but it’s unclear when it will air. 

Fox News president of news Jay Wallace said of Fox News@Night in a statement: “For the past decade, Shannon’s insight into the inner workings of the Supreme Court and Washington has made her a major asset to our news division. Her experience, coupled with the relationship she has with our viewers, offers a perfect fit for the anchor position at 11PM/ET as we extend our live primetime programming.”