Growing up in Houston, Kristin Fisher never intended to become a household name. That isn’t why the Fox News reporter fell in love with broadcast journalism. Or decided at age 10 that she wanted to do the news.
“The thing that I believe to be the most sacred, that’s absolutely essential, is that we try to be as objective as possible,” says Fisher, a Houston native and network correspondent covering the White House. “It’s important to be fair and balanced — for me that means reporting right down the middle.”
The best part of her job is telling peoples’ stories — that, and having a “front row seat to history.” It’s never dull, and she’s never bored.
“I try to make mundane facts sound interesting,” she said. “Opinion rates really well, but I never do that and I never will.”
When the coronavirus pandemic hit last spring, Fisher became part of the news cycle. Her father, Dr. William Fisher, is 74 years old, diabetic and an emergency room physician at the Texas Medical Center.
Fisher referenced her father and his colleagues as a touchstone in her coverage of COVID-19, and their experiences informed the questions she posed to President Trump. “This had become personal to me. My dad was literally on the front lines of this fight,” she said.
During a White House press briefing in April, Fisher remembers thinking, “‘Zero emotion. Just ask the question that would help the most people in this country.’”
Fisher asked President Trump when hospitals could expect to receive a quick turnaround on COVID-19 test results. His response — calling Fisher “horrid” on air — put her name in headlines.
She didn’t take it personally. Nor does she allow accusations of “fake news” to affect how she performs her job.
“I don’t think comments like that are good for journalists or democracy,” Fisher said. “Trump is one of the most voracious consumers of media. He doesn’t always like what he reads and sees, but he has his talking points and we have a job to do. The minute you take it personal is when it becomes a problem.”
She’s quick to point out that the press has been a convenient foil for previous administrations, too. It’s nothing new. Social media is what has changed the game. And that trickles from the top down.
“If the president is willing to tweet at all hours on a variety of subjects, that filters through his staffers,” she said. “The amount of stuff you have to know about is so vast. And so are the kinds of questions you have to be prepared to ask.”
But she said she’s not looking for the viral moment that everyone else is retweeting. If Twitter wasn’t such a big part of her job, she wouldn’t use it.
“There’s a blue-check Twitterati, and we all just read each other’s tweets,” she shares. “That sort of group think is what led to 2016 and the shock of that election.”
As the mother of a nearly 3-year-old daughter, there are better uses of her time, she said.
Her parents modeled a strong work ethic from early age. Her mother, astronaut Anna Fisher, made history 35 years ago when she became the first mom in space. Dr. Fisher flew in space 18 months after his wife.
“My mom gave birth to me on a Friday and was assigned to her first space flight on a Monday,” said Fisher, 37.
She was born five minutes away from the Johnson Space Center and grew up in Taylor Lake Village. Anna Fisher drove carpool once or twice a week, shuttling her daughter to St. John’s School in River Oaks, and sometimes ballet and gymnastics classes, too.
That example gave Fisher confidence that she could balance her career and be a present mother as well.
“The coronavirus has completely changed how we cover the presidential race. One bright spot is that I’m not nearly on the road as much as I would’ve been,” she said. “Trump likes to sleep in his bed every night, so we’re not talking about a lot of overnight travel.”
Fox News requires COVID-19 testing before staffers can enter their work spaces. And, for her own piece of mind, Fisher gets a COVID-19 test every five days at a minimum.
While no one knows for sure how the presidential election will pan out this go-around, Fisher said the network is preparing for every possible scenario.
“No matter what we do, there’s going to be some wild card,” she said. “It’s 2020. That seems to be the trend this year.”
amber.elliott@chron.com
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Covering the White House for Fox is an exciting challenge for Houston native Kristin Fisher - Houston Chronicle
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