Ashleigh Banfield
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Ashleigh Dennistoun Banfield (born December 29, 1967 in Winnipeg, Manitoba), is a Canadian-born journalist currently working as an anchor for Court TV.
Educated at Queen's University, in Kingston, Ontario, Banfield began her career in 1988 at CJBN in Kenora, Ontario, and at CKY-TV in Winnipeg. From 1989 to 1992, she worked for CFRN-TV in Edmonton, and from 1992 until 1995, at CICT in Calgary, where she won 2 Iris Awards.
Her first American assignment was at KDFW-TV in Dallas, where she won an Emmy Award and a Texas Associated Press Award. In 2000 she was hired by MSNBC and NBC News and became a host of HomePage along with Gina Gaston and Mika Brzezinski. She also hosted MSNBC Investigates.
Known for her articulate, personable style as much as for her in-depth reporting, Banfield has risked her life several times while reporting in the Middle East and Central Asia, although she also reports on domestic and pop culture issues. Usually refusing to use a teleprompter, Banfield is known for always walking during her live broadcasts — across the landscapes, in and out of buildings, always carrying a yellow legal pad. Most of her interviews are unscripted. Another trademark is her square-rimmed Lafont eyeglasses, although she didn't start wearing them on the air until after she left Dallas. From 1997 to 1999, Banfield read news stories on WebTV for approximately two hours every night, until she had trouble reading small print. She blames the Internet device for causing her astigmatism. [1]
On September 11, 2001, Banfield was reporting from the streets of Manhattan, where she was nearly suffocated from the debris cloud from the collapsing World Trade Center. Banfield continued reporting, even as she rescued a NYPD officer, and with him, fled to safety into a streetside shop. After the initial reporting of the tragedy had ended, Banfield received a promotion, as MSNBC sent her around the world as the producer of a new program, A Region in Conflict.
A Region in Conflict was broadcast mainly from Pakistan and Afghanistan, generally considered locations unfriendly to Westerners. To report day-to-day local stories in that area of the world, she sometimes used her Canadian citizenship to provide access where Americans might not be welcome. She would read viewer e-mails on-air, sometimes without reviewing them beforehand, to avoid bias.
During the conflict in Afghanistan, Banfield interviewed Taliban prisoners, and visited a hospital in Kabul. Later entries covered her travels from Jalalabad to Kabul, as well as other experiences in Afghanistan. In Pakistan, she interviewed Father Gregory Rice, a Catholic priest in Pakistan, and an Iraqi woman aiding refugees. While in Afghanistan, Banfield darkened her blonde hair in order to be less obviously a foreigner.
In April 2003, in a speech at Kansas State University, Banfield raised concerns regarding media coverage of the conflict in Iraq. She also took a veiled swipe at Fox News Channel, blasting "cable news operators who wrap themselves in the American flag and go after a certain target demographic."
According to a New York Times article, her speech angered NBC management who rebuked her and lowered her profile. She was fired in 2004. [2]
Banfield joined Court TV in 2005. She is the co-host of the trial coverage show "Banfield & Ford: Courtside" weekdays from 1 to 3PM ET with Jack Ford. She is the only non-lawyer among Court TV's anchors. She signed on to host celebrity gossip show "Hollywood Heat" in January 2007.
Banfield was also a backup singer for the band Bad Haskells and member of a bar band. In addition, she is a cigar aficionado and enjoys Cuban cigars. [1]
On October 22, 2005, Ashleigh gave birth to her first child, a boy (Jay Fischer), with husband Howard Gould.
- ^ a b Buckman, Adam. "That 'girl' in the glasses — Fla. mess pushes MSNBC anchor into spotlight", New York Post, November 27, 2000.
- ^ Rutenberg, James. "Ashleigh Banfield's Career No Longer Seems to Shine as Bright",New York Times, May 5, 2003.
