Ashleigh Banfield encyclopedia topics

Professional career

Canada

She began her career in 1988 at CJBN in Kenora, Ontario, and at CKY-TV in Winnipeg later that year. From 1989 to 1992, she anchored the weekend news for CFRN-TV in Edmonton, and from 1992 until 1995, at CICT in Calgary, where she won 2 Iris Awards.

During her tenure at CICT, Banfield worked as a freelance associate producer for ABC’s World News Tonight, covering the 1991 Bush/Gorbachev Summit in Russia and the 1992 Clinton/Yeltsin Summit in Vancouver.

United States

Her first American assignment was at KDFW-TV in Dallas, where she won an Emmy Award and a Texas Associated Press Award. It was during her time with KDFW that she also made a memorable radio appearance on The Travel World Radio Show on Montreal's CIQC-AM 600, hosted by veteran travel broadcasters Stephen Pickford and Willem Bagchus, during which she indulged in her passion for impersonating Janis Joplin.

Banfield’s trademark is her square-rimmed Lafont eyeglasses, which she started wearing on the air after she departed Dallas for NBC in New York City. 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 for causing her astigmatism.

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.

On September 11, 2001, Banfield was reporting from the streets of Manhattan amid a cloud of debris from the collapsing World Trade Center. 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. They also launched a heavy ad campaign that centered around Banfield, labeling her, "The One."

A Region in Conflict was broadcast mainly from Pakistan and Afghanistan, generally considered locations unfriendly to Westerners. She would read viewer e-mails on-air, sometimes without reviewing them beforehand, ostensibly to avoid the appearance of 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.

After A Region in Conflict, she received the 10pm timeslot with the show Ashleigh Banfield on Location.

In April 2003, in a speech at Kansas State University, Banfield raised concerns regarding media coverage of the conflict in Iraq. She also blasted "cable news operators who wrap themselves in the American flag and go after a certain target demographic", specifically naming Fox News Channel as an example. According to a New York Times article, her speech angered NBC management who rebuked her and lowered her profile. She was fired in 2004.

Banfield joined CourtTV (renamed TruTV) 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.

Education

Personal life

Banfield is married to Howard Gould and they have two boys, Jay Fischer Gould(born 2005) and Ridley Banfield Gould (born 2007). They reside in New Canaan, Connecticut.

Banfield was also a backup singer for the band The Rusty River Rafters and member of a bar band. In addition, she is a cigar aficionado and enjoys Cuban cigars.