Liberty alumna Shannon Bream shares her story

The location was Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and the setting was a chaotic newsroom after former President Donald Trump had just been shot. Seated at her anchor desk, Shannon Bream was reporting live on-air July 13 for FOX News Sunday when the breaking news story of the season unfolded.

Calm and collected, Bream kept the program going by sharing the latest developments to ensure people at home knew the details of the rally shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania. Bream stayed on the air for four hours, sifted through any new pieces of information and interviewed subject-matter experts as the minutes flew by. 

Bream said she knew it was vital for her to stay calm that day even though both her mind and heart were racing.

“You have to be so careful in those moments, … even though your emotions are running wild, to stay calm. And I remember thinking, … ‘I just need to stay calm; people at home need to see me being calm in the midst of this,’” Bream said.

After leaving the set, Bream walked over to her phone to find her screen flooded with texts that said several people were praying for her during her broadcast.

“It felt like a blessing that there was a calmness that came over me, although my heart had probably never raced like that live on the air,” Bream said. “There was a calmness that I knew was not me. I mean, it was supernatural. It was divine, and all of those texts confirmed for me that it was the Holy Spirit guiding me through that situation.” 

Bream said she knew God was with her and that he would equip her to say what needed to be said on camera.

Although breaking-news segments, hours-long broadcasts and high-profile interviews are Bream’s typical responsibilities as an anchor, she also serves as FOX News Channel’s chief legal correspondent and provides the latest coverage on Supreme Court rulings.

While these job roles are parts of Bream’s normal schedule, a journalistic career path was not her original plan.

Over 30 years ago, Bream enrolled at Liberty University and began pursuing a business degree. Although she enjoyed reading the news, her father did not think journalism would be a suitable career. Instead, her father told her she should pursue medical school or law school upon graduating from Liberty.

“They (her parents) felt like education was a big way forward, and because I was a good student and I enjoyed that, and as they would say, I liked to argue a lot, they thought law school would be a good fit for me,” Bream said.

A few years later, she received her law degree from Florida State University College of Law and worked as an attorney before using her lawyering skills to aid her as a journalist, according to Repertoire magazine. 

“But I couldn’t get away from that idea of digging for the story, and that’s where law school really equipped me because it taught me how to do research,” Bream said. “It taught me how to see multiple sides of the same issue, which I think is really helpful in journalism too.”

After leaving her job as an attorney, Bream said she did the “grunt work” at news stations by staying overnight, manning the teleprompter, making calls and delivering coffees around the office. Her goal was to learn as much as she could because she loved the industry.

Her hard work seemed to pay off after her boss at the studio let her begin taking on stories outside of the office. However, Bream said it all changed once management switched over at the studio. Her new boss fired her and told her she was not fit for the news business.

Despite feeling discouraged, Bream never gave up. She said she learned that “failure is not the end,” and she hopes today’s Liberty students will learn this too.

“Whatever battle you are fighting, it’s okay,” Bream said. “You just need to keep going until you get to the one person that says yes, who sees your uniqueness or how you’ll be a good fit for them or their organization, whatever their industry is. … I wish I knew then. You’re going to hear no a lot, but that’s okay. It’s part of the process.”

Bream said she is passionate about journalism because she loves sharing people’s stories and explaining politics and law to the public.

“I feel like there’s an obligation to explain to people why something should matter to them, how it’s going to impact their life,” Bream said. “And they can take the facts and digest them for themselves, but it’s important for us to get them the facts so that they know and can make their own choices.”

While Bream enjoys reporting, she also wants to use her position to witness to others. For any students who want to share their faith in the workplace, Bream said humility is key.

“There are ways to just quietly minister to people. I think serving other people is probably our greatest opportunity to witness,” Bream said.

Bream said it can be challenging to minister to her co-workers, but she also believes it is important to have integrity, and she does not want to compromise her ethics for worldly approval.

“I do think there are times when there are specific conversations that call for us to step up and speak truth in love, so I don’t think we should shy away from those conversations. … The easiest way to witness to people is to be in service to them, and that’s something that whatever you’re doing if you’re in the home, in the workplace, … there’s always an opportunity to serve people.”

Davis is the editor-in-chief for the Liberty Champion.