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Fox finds friends airing from beach

Fox News celebrates its 10th anniversary with a day in St. Pete Beach.

By ERIC DEGGANS
Published October 17, 2006

	[Times photos: Dirk Shadd]
	John Ellis, right, and his wife, Terry, applaud as Shepard Smith ends his broadcast from the Don Cesar hotel Tuesday.
	The crew gives cues off camera as Fox News' Shepard Smith talks during his show airing from St. Pete Beach.

His news feeds and air-conditioned studio were hundreds of miles away in New York.

But Fox News Channel anchor Shepard Smith looked at ease perched on a platform before the pool at the Don Cesar Beach Resort and Spa in St. Pete Beach on Tuesday, stealing glances at a nearby BlackBerry and laptop computer while leading the 3 p.m. newscast, Studio B.

“There was a time when covering news from a remote location was hard,” said Smith, dabbing a tissue at tiny trickles of sweat on his face. “Today, I’m not any more or less connected here, because of technology, as I would be sitting in the studio.”

The sedate scene poolside Tuesday afternoon contrasted sharply with the energetic crowd that Fox News Channel’s morning show, Fox & Friends, had brought to the Don Cesar hours earlier, drawing an audience of about 200 to a 6 a.m. telecast filled with alligator wrestling, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers cheerleaders and Republican U.S. Senate candidate Katherine Harris.

It all served as a juiced-up celebration of the news channel’s 10th anniversary, which Fox is marking with 10 remote broadcasts, including Las Vegas, Phoenix and San Diego.

In St. Pete Beach, mayors from St. Pete Beach and Weeki Wachee declared Oct. 17 Fox News Channel Day during the rollicking morning broadcast.

 The production brought an odd convergence of media, as cameras from Fox-owned affiliates in Tampa and Orlando interviewed the Fox & Friends cast moments after it had completed segments for the show and fans took their own pictures with cell phones held aloft.

Officials at the Don Cesar estimated the value of the daylong showcase at about $5-million, a result of hosting Fox News Channel host Sean Hannity’s interview with President Bush.

The promotional events continued off the air: Fox & Friends co-host Steve Doocy signed copies of his book, The Mr. and Mrs. Happy Handbook, at a Tampa bookstore. Smith appeared on WTVT’s Your Turn midday talk show and hosted an evening reception at the Don Cesar.

“There’s an unserved market out there . . . people in the middle of the country who say 'Opinions like ours get eliminated in mainstream news,’” said Smith, explaining the top-rated Fox News Channel’s continuing success.

“Are there times when (Hannity & Colmes co-host) Sean Hannity might lean way to the right? You bet. But I wouldn’t sleep at night if I thought what I was doing was carrying somebody’s torch.”

Still, there were times when Fox & Friends strained the network’s motto of “fair and balanced” reporting. Harris, for example, appeared by satellite from Jacksonville with no mention of her Democratic opponent.

Doocy also asked Harris, a U.S. House member, about Democratic House leader Harry Reid’s recent ethical problems without mentioning her connections to a controversial lobbyist.

Co-host Gretchen Carlson capped a quick story on lawyer Lynne Stewart’s 28-month sentence for helping a client convicted of terrorism charges contact his followers by saying derisively: “Hello! If you’re terrorists, do you deserve a defense lawyer?”

But fans barely noticed. “I just think channels like CNN and MSNBC slant the news to liberals,” said Clifford Newman, 66, of Madeira Beach, who watched Smith’s reporting Tuesday. “Fox seems to get it right.”

[Last modified October 17, 2006, 21:43:23]