MOVERS AND SHAKERS: Julie Banderas of FOX News Channel

Julie Banderas serves as host of "Fox Report Weekend" and co-host of "America's News Headquarters" for FOX News Channel (FNC.) She joined FNC in March 2005 as a general assignment reporter, before being promoted to anchor of the Big Story Weekend in August. It was in this position that Julie got into her infamous confrontation with Shirley Phelps-Roper, the daughter of Fred Phelps, the head of Westboro Baptist Church, a Topeka, Kansas, based church notorious for picketing the funerals of slain American troops. The video seen here was the most watched You Tube video in 2006: 

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=b3PyoUPcobA&hl=en&gl=US&warned=True&client=mv-google

Julie held the position as anchor of the Big Story Weekend until October 2007. She then joined a co-anchor format dubbed "America's Election HQ", and after the election the show was renamed "America's News Headquarters" in which Julie currently co-anchors with Gregg Jarrett. Also in March 2008, she became the anchor of the Fox Report Weekend.

Julie pioneered a trend in journalism, becoming one of the first reporters to solicit sources for a story via the social networking site twitter.  http://twitter.com/juliebanderas Julie made contact with a witness of the Buffalo plane crash in 2009 and interviewed him from her home live on Fox while she sat in her living room. She continues to make Twitter a powerful communication journalism tool by using it to communicate with her viewers while she's live on the air.

In addition to her regular anchoring duties, Julie also periodically serves as a reporter, and also as a fill-in anchor whenever weekday anchors are on vacation.

Banderas has covered nationally Hurricane Dennis from the National Hurricane Center in Miami and reported on its devastation in the surrounding areas. She traveled to Aruba to cover the Natalee Holloway disappearance and provided extensive reports from Florida on the Terri Schiavo case. Banderas also covered the murder of Jessica Lunsford by a registered sex offender.

Prior to joining FNC, Banderas was the weekend anchor at WNYW-TV (FOX) in New York where she was awarded the "Outstanding Single Newscast" Emmy award in 2004 for her coverage of the Republican National Convention. Earlier, she served as an anchor for several local news stations, including WFSB-TV (CBS) in Hartford, WHSV-TV (ABC) in Harrisonburg, Virginia and WBRE-TV (NBC) in Wilkes-Barre, PA. She began her career at WLVI-TV in Boston.

Banderas earned her bachelor's degree from Emerson College in Boston, MA.  Whom You Know met Julie at the Buoniconti Fund Sports Legends dinner recently at the Waldorf Astoria: http://www.whomyouknow.com/2009/10/sports-philanthropic-heroes-are-honored.html
and she was fabulously gracious.  We are so pleased to present her as our latest Mover and Shaker!  Peachy Deegan interviewed Julie Banderas for Whom You Know.

Peachy Deegan: When did you realize you wanted to go into journalism?
Julie Banderas: When my mother got our first home video camera when I was in grade school. Our home videos of me pretending to be a reporter are pretty funny. At age 11 in 7th grade at Rosarian Academy in Palm Beach, Florida I attended career day at school. Students were asked to choose 3 different careers they found interesting. My 1st pick was architecture because my father was a Civil Engineer and owner of a commercial construction company, Consolidated Precast. My 2nd choice was TV news and 3rd was the modeling industry. Architecture bored me and I did some modeling as a child but didn’t see that as my future but when the female anchor from the local news station came in and talked to us I was so fascinated with her career I couldn’t imagine doing anything else. My mother later arranged for me to take a tour of the news station. From that day forward I knew what I wanted to be when I grew up and spent my entire childhood practicing in front of our home video camera until I went to college to learn how to do it for real!

What do you enjoy most about your career now?
When I was much younger my father said to me, “if you love your job it shouldn’t feel like work.” He was right. Since joining Fox News Channel in 2005 I’ve discovered exactly what he meant. Having the opportunity to come in and discuss such a wide array of topics from national to international news coverage and being in a position where I am always learning is invigorating. My favorite part is being on the air during breaking news. People often ask if I get nervous. The answer is, never. Breaking news actually calms me. When breaking news happens I feel it’s my job to digest the information almost as quickly as it comes out of my mouth by having a conversation with my viewers. To tell a story properly my job as a journalist is to truly understand it myself first in order to responsibly tell it in a comprehensive way. It’s this that I believe gains you trust and credibility. Credibility means everything to me. I thrive on the challenges I face at work and feel blessed to have the opportunity to do what I do every day. No two days are the same and I love that. Unpredictable, fast paced, and always having to think on your feet. It’s the kind of adrenaline rush I couldn’t live without! Oh, and as for my co-workers I have never worked with a better bunch of people or had closer friends at work. My co-anchor Gregg Jarrett and I are like family. I’ve never had more fun or better chemistry with anyone on television. See for yourself Saturday’s and Sunday’s 4-6pm et!

Where have you enjoyed reporting from the most and why?
My favorite story I’ve covered was the Terry Schiavo “right to die” case. It was in Florida when I first joined Fox News Channel in 2005. It reached people on so many levels both legally and politically. Terry Schiavo had been living on a feeding tube for years despite doctors saying her brain was in a vegetable state. Her husband Michael Schiavo argued to have the tube pulled saying she would never have wanted to live that way. Her parents fought to keep the tube in hoping one day she would be rehabilitated. Terry never signed a will in the end her husband would have final say and the feeding tube was pulled after a Florida judge ruled in Michael Schiavo’s favor. The tube was later replaced after Terry’s parents appealed to the Supreme Court hoping to reverse the judges’ decision but the Supreme Court upheld the decision and the tube was pulled again. Terry died weeks later amidst protesters trying to barge into the nursing home to bring her cups of water. It is a very sad and dramatic story which will go down in news history.

What do you know now that you wish you knew at the beginning of your television career?
I wish I would have taken my studies more seriously in High School. Courses like History and English are so important and not paying enough attention in those classes proved to be a disadvantage going into college and the beginnings of my career. I had to do a lot of catch up work!

What are your future ambitions?
To continue to excel in my current field in live television news and aim to get better every day. There is so much more I want to learn about global issues and world history. I have also long considered getting a law degree as I considered going to law school after college. I also recently got married to Andrew Sansone founder of bigapplechannel.com. I have never met a more wonderful person or had a greater best friend. We hope to start a family soon and my future personal ambition is to be as good of a wife as he is a husband and together be great role models for our children so they can aspire to do all I’ve done and more.

What or who has had the most influence on your pursuit of excellence?
My parents have been extremely supportive of my career. Both are very head strong and when they want something they go after it. I set lofty goals for myself when I was a child and I haven’t come close to fulfilling all of them and won’t give up until I do. As for a single role model I have and will always view the late Peter Jennings as my biggest inspiration. To be half the Journalist he was would be a dream come true.

What is your favorite place to be in Manhattan?
I live across the street from Central Park and that is my favorite place. It’s where I run, walk the dog and just feel like I’m getting away from my fast pace life. Whenever I enter the park I immediately feel at peace. I wouldn’t live anywhere else!

What is your favorite shop in Manhattan?
Oh, that’s hard. I’m a certified shopaholic!!! Large store? Bergdorfs. Boutique, I’d say… anything on Madison Avenue. 

What is your favorite drink?
A very good Red Wine (Cabernet or Pinot Noir) in the winter and white wine (Sancerre) in the summer.

What is your favorite restaurant in Manhattan?
Bond Street

What has been your best Manhattan athletic experience?
Training for a marathon in Central Park

What is your favorite thing to do in Manhattan that you can do nowhere else?
The convenience of walking out my front door to get anything I want. Having a choice of so many restaurants and shops just steps away makes living in Manhattan unbeatable!

What has been your best Manhattan art or music experience?
I don’t go out often enough but as a musician I really appreciate the symphony. Going to see the New York Philharmonic for a nice evening out is amazing. I also loved seeing David Grey play at Radio City Music Hall a few years ago. My sister took me as a surprise for my birthday.

What do you think is most underrated and overrated here?
If you haven’t done this then do it! Get on a boat or ferry and see Manhattan from the water. I’ve done it so many times and can never get enough of the views from the New York Harbor looking at lower Manhattan. Breathtaking. I don’t think enough city dwellers take advantage of this vantage point.

Other than Movers and Shakers of course, what is your favorite Whom You Know column and what do you like about it?
Peachy's Pet Pals since it's about pets.
Being a parent to 1 dog and 2 cats (or as some refer to as being a pet owner) I find enough can't be said about our beloved pets or as I like to refer to them as "my children."

What else should Whom You Know readers know about you?
I am the biggest animal lover you’ll ever meet! I have two cats (Murphey and Kaya) and a dog (Sasha.) They’ve all been with me for up to 12 years and I couldn’t imagine my life without them. No matter how crazy my day or how stressful life can get my pets have always been there to keep me happy! I take my dog everywhere (she’s a Pomerarian so she fits in a bag.) They’re my best friends!!!