Chief legal correspondent and host Shannon Bream shared stories and perspectives on a range of topics during a recent visit to Greensboro as part of Elon Law’s 2022-2023 Distinguished Leadership Lecture Series presented by The Joseph M. Bryan Foundation.
Shannon Bream asks herself one question whenever she reports on the Supreme Court of the United States on FOX News: Why should this matter to someone watching at home?
It’s a concept that can get lost in the rush reporters sometimes feel to be “first” with a breaking news report.
“Cases can be very intellectually demanding and very wonky at times, to be fair,” Bream shared with hundreds of audience members in a recent visit to Greensboro. “But there’s a reason that these nine people make decisions that affect millions of people. And so my goal is always to make sure that people know what’s happening at the court and how it impacts them.”
Bream, host of FOX News Sunday with Shannon Bream and the network’s chief legal correspondent, visited North Carolina on April 12, 2023, for a moderated conversation with Professor Catherine Ross Dunham as part of Elon University School of Law’s 2022-2023 Distinguished Leadership Lecture Series presented by The Joseph M. Bryan Foundation.
Throughout the hour-long program, Bream informed and entertained her Carolina Theatre audience with observations about the Supreme Court, the role of media in shaping knowledge about the law, and how she finds inspiration from her religious faith.
Dunham structured her conversation around many of the themes in Bream’s bestselling book, “Finding the Bright Side,” a memoir that explains Bream’s views on the law, media, faith, and staying true to personal values and beliefs.
Bream advised her audience to seek information from various news sources, even those “that may not be where your gut initially goes” because there is always something to learn. The televisions in her office have CNN and FOX on display, and she reads different papers every day, from The New York Times to The Federalist.
“It’s good to know what the other side has to say,” Bream said. “If anything, challenging our ideas should make us realize that we’re wrong about something, or to find better ways to defend the ideas that we hold. So I would just encourage you to consume as much as you can across the spectrum.”
The Distinguished Leadership Lecture Series presented by The Joseph M. Bryan Foundation is an integral part of Elon Law’s commitment to learning, lawyering and leadership. The series brings accomplished leaders from a variety of disciplines to Elon University to share their experiences and perspectives with students and faculty.
Dan Abrams of NewsNation and Sunny Hostin of The View previously visited Greensboro for the first two programs of the academic year.
Bream currently serves as anchor of “FOX News Sunday with Shannon Bream” on the FOX Broadcast Network. She joined FOX News Channel in 2007 as a Washington, D.C- based correspondent covering the Supreme Court of the United States.
In addition to her role as anchor, Bream is the chief legal correspondent for FNC and host of “Livin’ the Bream,” a podcast on FOX News Radio where she shares inspirational stories, personal anecdotes and an insider’s perspective on actions and rulings from the high court.
She is also a founding author for FOX News Books, the publishing imprint of FOX News Media.
Notably, her debut title, “The Women of the Bible Speak: The Wisdom of 16 Women and Their Lessons for Today” was the 13th bestselling book in adult nonfiction in 2021, according to Bookscan, and spent 15 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, five of which at No. 1. In March 2022, she published the second book in the franchise, “Mothers and Daughters of the Bible Speak,” which also rose to number one on the New York Times bestseller list.
Bream’s “The Love Stories of the Bible Speak” was released in March 2023 and has also placed on the New York Times bestseller list.
Prior to joining FNC, Bream worked as a weekend anchor for WRC-TV (NBC-4) in Washington, D.C., anchored the evening and late-night news for WBTV (CBS-3) in Charlotte and held writing and reporting positions at WFTS-TV (ABC-28) in Tampa. Bream previously practiced law, specializing in race discrimination and sexual harassment cases. She is an honors graduate of the Florida State University College of Law, and she obtained her Bachelor of Science in Business Management magna cum laude from Liberty University.
Before her evening appearance, Bream spoke with students in Elon Law’s Fellowship of Christian Lawyers. She recounted her experience at Florida State, where staying true to her faith required more intentionality.
Up until law school, she said, she was always surrounded by others who shared the same beliefs. It was easy to practice her Christian faith because everyone else was doing likewise.
“Law school was the first time I was with people who didn’t see eye to eye with me on anything, including religion, and that was a good thing!” she told the group. “You can be friends with all those folks and learn from them and have really good, honest conversations, but I found that some of my closest law school friendships were definitely with the other believers, who were also trying to stay true and find their strength while surviving the early years.”
And how does she stay true to her faith as a news host and reporter who might cover stories that deeply affect her?
“Of course, all of us personally have our own opinions, but my job is to make sure that doesn’t bleed into my work,” Bream shared. “Not that I have to abandon my principles, but for folks at home, my responsibility to them is to give them the facts and trust them to digest those facts.
“For years I didn’t hide my faith, but I didn’t make it the number one topic of discussion. Everybody who worked with me or around me would know that about me. I feel like in this heated, difficult environment that we’re called to treat each other with respect. Not to abandon any of our own core principles, but if we see a person on either side of a debate as created in God’s image, that’s a wonderful place to start.”