Former Fox News anchor Shepard Smith made a surprise donation of $500,000 to the nonprofit Committee to Protect Journalists during a speech Thursday night in which he did not mention Donald Trump by name, but alluded to him on multiple occasions. “Intimidation and vilification of the press is now a global phenomenon,” Smith said. “We don’t have to look far for evidence of that.” The speech at the International Press Freedom Awards dinner was the first public appearance for Smith since he abruptly left the channel last month. “We know that journalists are sometimes wary of being perceived as activists for some cause,” he said. “But press freedom is not the preserve of one political group or one political party. It’s a value embedded in our very foundational documents. Journalists need to join hands to defend it.” Smith was a founding staffer of Fox News, where he worked for the last 23 years.
