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Fox News Media's Spotlight Awards celebrate behind-the-scenes stars as network nears 30 years

Mon, 28 Sep 2026 09:37:40 -0400

FOX News Media CEO Suzanne Scott and President & Executive Editor Jay Wallace honored the 2025 FOX News Media Spotlight Award winners on Thursday during an intimate luncheon.

The FOX News Media Spotlight Awards are an annual tradition for the organization, and management received hundreds of nominations from staff members passionate about celebrating colleagues who earned special recognition. Winners were announced at a network-wide town hall, and they gathered at Avra in midtown Manhattan just blocks away from FOX News Media’s headquarters to celebrate alongside their families and colleagues.

FOX News anchor Bill Hemmer, who hosted the event, welcomed guests before introducing Scott to the stage.

"In a couple of weeks, Fox News Channel will mark 30 years. When we started, we didn’t have a system for recognizing extraordinary people, and there were many," Scott said.

"We were just figuring out how to not lose a satellite and keep a guest on the air from remote locations, forget about competing with MSNBC, which had just launched a few months prior, and CNN, which was the national leader in cable news at the time," Scott added. "But a lot has changed since then."

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Scott noted that nowadays, Fox News Channel dominates cable news and regularly competes with and beats the broadcast networks.

"We’ve also come up with a way to celebrate our most extraordinary performers," Scott said.

The Spotlight Awards launched in 2020, and prizes have since been handed out to staffers on dozens of teams. The annual event gives FOX News Media leaders a chance to show appreciation for individuals who show up every day and keep the company on top.

Wallace then took the stage to hand out the first award, where he was joined by Executive Vice President Scott Wilder and "FOX & Friends" co-hosts Ainsley Earhardt and Lawrence Jones.

Unsung Hero Award

The Unsung Hero Award goes to employees who consistently go above and beyond with work that is vital to FOX News Media but often goes unnoticed. This award recognizes those behind-the-scenes stars who keep everything running, often without fanfare, but always with excellence.

Director of broadcast contribution Pat Butler

"I think Pat preceded maybe everybody in this room because he’s been here since 1995, and he’s got some good stories," Wilder said before sharing Butler’s astonishing role in covering the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

"Pat drove the truck down there on 9/11, he communicated with our assignment desk by dialing an 800-number from a phone booth because cell phones didn’t work, he told them where he was parking the truck," Wilder said. "He shot all of those live shots that morning… he’s been an unsung hero for a very long time."

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FOX Nation producer Tania Joseph

"Tania has been with Fox for seven years, working hard and working her way up. She launched ‘The Sean Hannity Show’ podcast and now handles every single episode. She ensures Fox Nation’s content stays at the highest quality. Her recognition is especially well-deserved, because not only does she have an incredible work ethic, she’s also one of the most likable people you’ll ever meet," Wilder said.

Field Engineering and Scenic Design Specialist Tiger Stanley

"If you’re ever stranded on an island, Tiger is the one you want with you. He’ll have a shelter, a theme park, maybe a bar, and he’ll build it by the end of the day. None of us have any idea how he gets it done… impossible challenges are met all the time. Tiger is there to handle anything," Wilder said.

Rising Star Award

The Rising Star Award goes to employees who have shown exemplary work ethic and growth during the early stages of their careers.

Assignment editor Matthew Donnell

"We’re starting with two Assignment Desk staffers from Washington, who have done such good work, that both of them have earned gigs with the politics unit. First, Matthew Donnell, who has begun working as a Political Embed, covering campaigns through the midterm elections," Earhardt said.

"Matt always looks for ways to move stories forward, and now he’s going to do it from the field, interviewing candidates, and breaking news in primaries across the country," she added.

Associate producer Jessica Sonkin

"Second, also from the D.C. desk, associate producer Jessica Sonkin. Jessica was already known for her incredible work ethic, and it was an easy call to make her a political embed," Earhardt said.

"Jessica, you and Matt have a lot of long days ahead on the trail, so I hope you’re all caught up on sleep," she continued. "We very much look forward to your dispatches from across the country during this exciting election season."

‘FOX & Friends’ associate producer Carey Gallagher

"I personally know firsthand how hard Carey works, never complains, stays under the radar. She produces segments and handles our research packets. We can always count on her to come up with talking points, good intros and important graphics. Like so many of our Rising Stars, she puts in long hours and is always ready to take on more responsibility. Because of that dedication, Carey has earned the trust of both the ‘FOX & Friends’ hosts and the production team," Earhardt said.

FOX Nation associate producer Sabrina Baker

"Colleagues say Sabrina is exceptionally creative, and reliable. She routinely juggles at least six shows at the same time, and she’s currently leading the production of ‘Park’d’ Season 10. Sabrina adds that she’s excited to keep growing in her role at Fox. We’re excited as well," Earhardt said.

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Community Service Award

This award goes to an employee that has dedicated time and energy to his or her local community and is active in company volunteer efforts.

‘FOX and Friends First’ stage manager Matt Rodriguez

"Matt has worked overnights for 13 years. Despite working the graveyard shift, he still has enough energy to volunteer for his Cub Scouts. He’s a Unit Commissioner for them, and that’s a big job. He works with many different packs of Scouts. And he recently completed the Wood Badge course, which is focused on advanced leadership, so that he can continue to help children grow into the best versions of themselves," Jones said.

Washington, D.C., assignment manager Lillian LeCroy

"She volunteers with American Corporate Partners, a nonprofit that connects veterans with mentors for career guidance. It’s an organization Fox has been proud to support and partner with for more than a decade, and we’re so proud of Lillian for her dedication to the community," Jones said.

Innovator of the Year

Lead technical director Rich Cozzi

"Rich Cozzi is someone I’ve worked with for years, obviously working at Fox, we’re leaner, meaner, better and more experimentative than any other network … he exemplifies this," Wallace said.

"I could not be more proud of him… he’s driving automation across all parts of FOX News Media, from Business to Weather," Wallace added. "Rich Cozzi, you earned this."

"Innovation at Fox means finding better, faster, smarter ways to get the job done," Wallace said.

The Impact Award

Director Brianne Bombara and recruiter Veronica Baker

The Impact Award goes to those who have had some of the most positive overall effects on FOX News Media. This year, a pair of colleagues from the campus recruitment team shared the award for building a first-class recruiting program.

"People ask me all the time, I’ve worked for 30 years, and it’s no secret I started entry level, ‘How do you continue to have a successful culture and develop great people?’ That’s because we bring in the best and brightest at the university level, and we design a way to offer the best, top-rated jobs before they leave. These two have done an incredible job, I couldn’t be prouder of you," Scott said.

"This year, the team has overseen three intern cycles with nearly 700 participants, made 34 campus visits… they spent 53 days on the road recruiting top talent," Scott continued. "Brianne and Veronica, I’m so proud of this program you have built and, because of your dedication, our internship program is ranked among the best in the country."

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JASON CHAFFETZ: Fox News has never let DC scandals become mere footnotes

Mon, 28 Sep 2026 09:00:40 -0400

Long after the rest of the media passed on exposing the corruption in D.C., Fox knew when there was a real story.

In December 2009, I sat down with Neil Cavuto. It was one of my earliest national interviews. As a freshman who had been in Congress less than a year, I was sleeping on a $45 cot in my closet in Longworth at the time. Cavuto didn’t book me because I had a famous name. He booked me because a member who refused to load pork into an omnibus was news. Fox was willing to bring on a back-bencher from Utah because the story mattered.

As a junior member of the House Oversight Committee, I did not know then that this would become the only place some of our hearings got traction after the initial press release died down. Viewers who wanted the whole story knew they could find it on Fox.

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Start with Fast & Furious. The Obama Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives deliberately let guns walk into the hands of criminals so the agency could "build a bigger case." On Dec. 14, 2010, Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was shot and killed in Arizona. Two of those walked guns were found at the scene.

The Justice Department’s first instinct was to minimize it. Other newsrooms were happy to call it a botched sting and move on. Fox kept Agent Terry’s name on the air.

We kept asking who authorized a program that ended with an American lawman dead and thousands of firearms unaccounted for. I was not yet chairman. I was a member, but I had been down on that border. Without a network willing to stay on the story, Fast & Furious becomes a footnote and Brian Terry becomes a statistic.

Then the Secret Service. By 2015, I was chairman, and the agency charged with protecting the president had become an agency in crisis: a fence jumper with a knife inside the White House, a prostitution scandal in Cartagena, supervisors crashing a crime scene after a night of drinking.

We looked into all of it. We held the hearings. Called out the problems. The agency’s response was not to fix the protection mission. It was to open my old job application and pass around "information he might find embarrassing." Forty-five employees accessed my file. A senior official wrote that the information needed to "get out. Just to be fair."

This was not a personnel spat. It was a federal agency using private information to punish the committee investigating it. Other outlets covered the fence jumper for a news cycle. Fox stayed on the pattern — and on the retaliation — long enough for an inspector general to put it in writing.

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Let’s not forget the IRS. Lois Lerner’s shop slow-walked conservative groups before an election. When Congress asked for the emails, we were told they were gone — hard drive crash, backup tapes that "didn’t exist." It took an inspector general two weeks to find tapes the agency swore were unrecoverable.

The White House called the scandal phony. The Justice Department declined to prosecute Lerner’s contempt. A lot of newsrooms took the cue. Fox did not. As chairman I told the country the commissioner had failed to comply with a subpoena, failed to tell the truth about what had been destroyed and failed to notify Congress until after the evidence was gone.

You can argue with the politics of that fight. You cannot argue with missing emails and a tax agency picking targets by ideology. That story stays buried if the only cameras left in the room have already declared it over.

I’ve been honored to know and interact with so many great Fox personalities over the last two decades. I got to know Charles Krauthammer in the Fox green room, and on the air when he talked about investigations we were running. We did not always agree. I was in awe of his strength. His was a voice I actually listened to, day after day.

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One day I said, "Charles, how are you? You’re my favorite person on the planet."

He said, "Good to see you, Jason. You’re my favorite person on the Oversight Committee."

I said, "My universe is bigger than your universe."

He said, "Yeah, well, I’m being generous."

Fox News Channel went on the air Oct. 7, 1996. Thirty years later the scandals have different names. The instinct to look away does not. A chairman can issue a subpoena. He cannot make the country watch. For a lot of the years I spent on that committee, Fox was the network that still would.

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Keep putting the hearing on. We will bring the documents.

MARTHA MACCALLUM: After 22 years, here's why I'm grateful to call Fox home

Mon, 28 Sep 2026 06:00:49 -0400

Twenty-two years ago, I made the best move of my career. My early years were spent at The Wall Street Journal and CNBC. But coming here changed my life in so many positive ways that I can’t imagine what any other path would have looked like. I am deeply grateful that I trusted the gut feeling that told me I belonged here.

On my first day, Jeff Hark, who was overseeing the scheduling of reporters and anchors, asked me about my family. He knew I had three young children, and he wanted to assure me that Fox understood the pressures of young professionals raising kids. Defensive at first, I insisted I could handle it and wouldn’t be bothering him with requests for time off, but then I realized he actually meant it. It was such a smart company perspective that it made me want to work even harder, knowing they would have my back.

Fox liberated me to grow and take on so many new challenges. The environment was still scrappy, and the growth was exponential.

Every opportunity I leaned into opened a door. That first year, I asked to be part of the election team covering the November 2004 presidential race. I offered to stand on a street corner in Boston and report on how the DNC was affecting traffic. Kidding, but not kidding — I just wanted to be in the "room where it was happening"!

I soon found myself reporting from the floor of the Democratic convention alongside correspondents Carl Cameron and Major Garrett, two of our most seasoned political reporters. I was exuberant and terrified. But I survived, and it was the beginning of 20 years of covering elections for Fox News.

I have traveled the world, covered presidents and kings, and perhaps most rewarding of all, I have had the honor of walking the beaches of Normandy with our war heroes and sharing their stories, from Berlin, Korea, Vietnam and Afghanistan.

At Fox, a deep respect for our veterans was encouraged in a way that would not have happened anywhere else.

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I am forever grateful for our Fox family here. For Lachlan, Suzanne and Jay, and everyone else who feels like home. We are bonded by a love for our country. We are driven to hold it to the highest standard. To hold those who govern it accountable. And to pray for its continued success.

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Happy 30th birthday, Fox.

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DANA PERINO: The untold story of the remarkable people who make Fox News possible

Mon, 28 Sep 2026 05:00:43 -0400

FOX NEWS ALERT!

You’re joining our coverage live as Fox News Channel celebrates 30 years of on-air excellence.

Thirty years?

It went by so fast.

And yet, a 30th anniversary doesn’t happen by accident.

Fox News makes it look easy. It’s not. The work behind the scenes is incredible to witness.

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Let’s take a moment to recognize the people our viewers never see — the ones who make it possible for the shows to get on the air and for those of us in front of the camera to have complete confidence that the product reaching our viewers is informative and entertaining.

Having that confidence matters to the anchors, hosts and guests. It’s critical to know the research is solid, the technology is working, the pictures are right, and, if something changes in an instant, that the team has your back. Nearly the entire building is organized around making that possible.

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Aside from the hours I’m on air, I walk into work so happy. I love my routine — and knowing that the plan could change in an instant. It keeps me on my toes.

My day begins with a security guard who likes to announce, "Talent is in the building!" precisely because he knows the word "talent" makes me cringe. I blush, walk faster, and we laugh about it every single morning.

I often see one of the custodial staff on my way up to my office, and one joins me in trying to get a tradition going of saying, "Morning morning!" every day. We have a streak — we never miss.

Long before I arrive, the producers have already been working. They get up hours before we do, thinking about what would make a good show — not simply what we are going to say, but what the audience is going to experience. They’re looking for the best and latest video that captures an event, making graphics to help explain the story (I love charts!) and writing scripts that grab the viewer and keep them watching.

And then, at a moment’s notice, they may have to tear up the entire rundown when breaking news changes everything. Suddenly, the carefully planned show is gone, and the team is shifting to something happening across the country or around the world. They have to gather information, verify it, find the right pictures, reach the right correspondents and guests, and help us understand what matters — fast. That kind of flexibility only looks effortless when the people doing it are exceptionally good at their jobs.

I remember once interviewing an Afghan man who witnessed the Abbey Gate airport bombing in August 2021, when President Joe Biden pulled our troops out. This man picked up an injured child, carried her to safety and then came on air with us. He was a man with no hope. And while I am usually very stoic on air, I was about to cry.

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I will never forget the reassuring voice in my ear from the line producer: "You’re OK. You’re OK." My tears dried up. The interview continued.

Assistants are a lifeline for us — they produce our lives. They do the research, keep the schedule, block and tackle, and get in front of problems. The scope and scale of their talents are immense, and without them, we’d be lost.

Our technology teams keep us connected to breaking news and events around the world in real time — something we all take for granted right up until the second something doesn’t work.

And then, of course, there are those who help us look our best. The wardrobe department has a great eye and is always there with a pin or a piece of tape when we need it. The hair and makeup team is by far the best in the business. Name another? You can’t.

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They’re also our confidants — I’ve worked with the same team for almost 15 years, and they’ve become my sister-friends. Sure, they make sure I’m camera-ready at an hour when most reasonable people are still in pajamas, but they also know when I’ve had a tough night, could use some encouragement, need to laugh and when it’s better just to let me sit quietly for a few minutes. I can’t wait to see them every day and catch up.

So many others to mention — the directors who know how to get the best reaction shots, the cameramen who never miss an angle, and the lighting technicians we wish we could take with us everywhere.

And there’s a special relationship with a stage manager who can communicate an entire paragraph with one glance. There are also those who laugh at our jokes — it’s very gratifying to hear those chuckles.

On the road, another kind of magic happens. Our crews can take a barn, a convention hall, a parking lot or almost anywhere else and turn it into a beautiful television set. Hollywood should be so lucky to know these people.

And amid the enormous logistical challenge of covering an election or a breaking-news event, someone still remembers the little things: Dana likes warm water in her cup. Dana would love a yoga mat in her room if we’re going to be here for a very long time. Dana needs a footstool (always!).

Those things may sound small, but they make all the difference. They say: We know you. We’ve got you. Go do your job.

That same support extends far beyond the studio. Our media relations team promotes our work, tells our stories and, when we need it, defends us vigorously. They are in the arena with us and knowing they are there matters.

The same is true of our radio, podcast and digital teams, which have evolved right alongside the technology and opened up more and more ways for us to reach people. What once lived mostly on a television screen now lives in earbuds, phones, websites and across platforms that did not even exist when Fox News began. The technology changes, but the mission remains the same: Find the audience and serve them well.

And there are so many others whose names never appear on the screen.

These are not just colleagues. After enough years, they become deep friendships, and all the while, I have laughed so much.

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I have also leaned on this group for comfort during some of life’s hardest moments, including when my dad passed away earlier this year. And I have had the privilege of sharing in the joy, too — marriages, babies and now, after all these years, even grandbabies.

That is what longevity really looks like. You don’t just work alongside people — you live a lot of life alongside them.

We have celebrated, mourned, adapted and endured more than a few difficult seasons. And I think we are stronger because of it.

I’ve been at Fox for nearly 17 years, and somehow I still feel new compared with the OGs who built this network and made it what it is today.

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Thirty years later, the technology is different. The platforms are different. The way people consume news is different. But excellence still comes down to people and our corporate culture.

Without their singular focus on getting it right, we would not be number one, and we would not have lasted 30 years. Because of them — along with the vision and leadership from the top, including our founders — I have tremendous confidence in the years ahead.

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The cameras may be pointed at us.

But the people just outside the frame are the reason the show goes on.

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