Six-time Emmy Award-winning newscaster, Harris Faulkner, has called Fox News home since 2005.
With the launch of The Faulkner Focus in 2021, she proved that she's always evolving.
But while she's certainly a familiar face, there are still a few things you might not
know about the Fox News anchor.
Harris Faulkner proved to be a true trailblazer in the field of journalism when she began
headlining on Fox in 2014.
She was first brought on as co-host of the daytime show Outnumbered, before nabbing a
gig as anchor on Outnumbered Overtime in 2017.
Then, in 2021, The Faulkner Focus hit the small screen.
But before she was ever a household name, she started her career in the Midwest, anchoring
in Kansas City, Missouri from 1992 to 2000.
She then took her talents to Minnesota where spent four years at a local TV station.
Faulkner is proud of where she comes from, as well as the hard work it took to achieve her position today.
She told Canada's Inbetween,
"My rise is more, though, than just a statistic and it's not just about me and my own ambitions.
Having a black woman sit alone on a set designed for her show is necessary, powerful, and emblematic of real change.
And I would not be in that anchor seat at Fox News if I didn't feel celebrated."
There are times when the combination of Faulkner's race, gender, and her news organization's
conservatism causes people to make assumptions about her stance on political issues.
Seemingly unbothered by this, Faulkner told the AP in 2020,
"When anybody looks at you and looks at your position and thinks they know who you are,
you have the advantage of being able to surprise them."
"Do you feel a certain responsibility to the black community?"
"I feel a responsibility to everyone."
Along with earning six Emmys over the course of her career thus far, Faulkner's peers have
praised her work ethic.
In particular, she was commended on her interview with former President Trump during the height
of the Black Lives Matter movement.
The Columbia Journalism Review noted,
"She was neither antagonistic nor admiring.
She put herself into the interview, framed in her roles as a black woman and a parent,
in a way that journalists rarely do with her skill and care."
To that review, according to the Twin Cities Pioneer Press, Faulkner responded,
"The facts, the truth, the strength, that's what [journalists are] supposed to do."
"It enhances my ability to really go after the truth because I know that there's divinity
in my steps."
As she explained to Fox News, among the memorable moments of her career are her coverage of
the AIDS crisis in South Africa, the disappearance of Natalee Holloway in Aruba , and the Oklahoma City bombing.
Throughout her life, Faulkner said that several people helped influence her personal and professional
path, including her parents, as well as public figures like Nelson Mandela, Barbara Walters,
Michael Jordan, Oprah Winfrey, and Diane Sawyer.
Outside of the newsroom, Faulkner and her husband of 18 years, Tony Berlin, have two
daughters together; Danika and Bella.
The anchor told Inbetween,
"There is no secret or magic potion to balancing life — it's about just finding the right
answers every single day.
I married a guy who does it with me so well.
But some days we don't have the answers.
We just figure it out together and get through that day."
Faulkner and Berlin, who has a Jewish heritage, told People magazine that they are raising
their daughters mostly in the Christian faith, but that they also expose them to Jewish holidays and scripture.
Faulkner says she tells her children,
"You are the example of what society can do […] if we all pulled together in a unified way."
As her kids have gotten older, Faulkner hasn't shied away from talking with them about tough
topics, and she's determined to raise them to have a good conscience, confidence, resilience, and strength.
She added,
"I encourage my own daughters and other young girls and women […] to think of themselves
as an incredibly important piece of every puzzle they walk into.
Wherever women find themselves, you are part of the answer.
You are part of the solution."
"The number one thing I tell them, is never, ever, ever hide your confidence."
To accompany her other accolades, Faulkner also published two books: Breaking News: God
Has a Plan — An Anchorwoman's Journey Through Faith and 9 Rules of Engagement: A Military
Brat's Guide to Life and Success.
The latter became a New York Times bestseller.
After the release of 9 Rules, Faulkner spoke to American Military News about the book,
touching on how her father's career in the armed services shaped her lifestyle.
She said,
"Growing up as a military brat, there were expectations of excellence in my family.
Finish what you start, be honest, and have integrity.
My Mom would say, 'As often as possible, do something for someone who can offer you nothing
more than their company.'"
Through public speaking engagements and charitable work, Faulkner remains an active philanthropist
in the military community.
"I grew up in a family, Maria, where there was this expectation of leadership and greatness."
Since childhood, Faulkner has always been inspired by her father, Bob Harris, a combat
pilot and a two-tour Vietnam veteran.
Known as "Harris" among his military crew, his daughter saw an opportunity to emulate her hero.
According to The Kansas City Star, Faulkner made her dad's last name her own first name,
and chose "Faulkner" from a distant relative.
She has used the name as her own ever since, in honor of her father.
Sadly, Harris passed away in December 2020, at age 83.
Faulkner paid tribute to him on Instagram, sharing her family's creed:
"Praise God; Love America and all Americans, especially when we don't agree; Do all you
can for those who can offer you nothing more than their company."
Faulkner was born in Atlanta, Georgia.
But due to her dad's career, she also spent her youth living on military bases around the world.
These experiences allowed her to immerse herself in different cultures, meet new people, learn
resilience, and get comfortable with change.
After attending college at UC Santa Barbara, Faulkner's first internship landed her in Los Angeles.
Then, she was offered her first job in North Carolina, followed by a stint in Missouri.
Her warmth for the Midwest spans both her professional career, as well as her personal life.
She shared with Luxury Travel magazine,
"There is a little cluster there in the center of the country that's got it going on."
Faulkner launched her Emmy-winning career in the midwest, and it's also where she met her husband.
Another reason Faulkner adores the Midwest is her love of football, and she's a loyal
fan of the Kansas City Chiefs.
Even from her current home in New Jersey, Faulkner continues to root for her team from
afar, donning game day attire, and even decorating her home office with memorabilia.
In an interview with The Kansas City Star, she joked about her husband's attempts to
negotiate space for his own sports keepsakes, claiming,
"I told him, "You just get the rug and the wall art. That's it. Pretty much everything else is Kansas. I mean, a girl's gotta breath."
"So you wanna give America a round of applause?
Yeah!"
Thanks to her patriotic upbringing, the National Anthem was one of the first songs for which
a young Faulkner knew all the words.
It was in 1999, during her career as a news anchor in Kansas City, that Faulkner was invited
to sing the "Star-Spangled Banner" at Arrowhead Stadium.
She told Chiefs Wire,
"Now whenever I hear the national anthem.
I will always pipe in, no matter where I am.
[…] [Singing it] was amazing."
As an ode to the event, she posted a throwback photo on Instagram in February 2021 before
the Chiefs played in the Super Bowl.
"Hi, I'm Harris Faulkner.
And you're watching Outnumbered.
Outnumbered is the title of the show and also how I feel here at Fox News."
In 2018, Saturday Night Live alum Leslie Jones portrayed Faulkner in the cold open for the show.
Of the SNL nod, Faulkner told the Twin Cities Pioneer Press,
"It was an amazing moment and, I kid you not, they had me so down.
It was so crazy, I couldn't believe it."
Months later, Jones popped up as Faulkner again, and the Fox News host was totally here for it, adding,
"She looked even more like me than before. Even her voice!
I was flattered, super surprised and shocked.
[…] It was a very surreal moment."
In October 2018, Faulkner spoke with Variety and suggested that Jones would be perfect
to play her in a movie someday.
She joked,
"She did a pretty good job on SNL — I mean, the girl even had my fake news lashes on!
Yeah, I'd be alright with that, if she'd like to do a little drama because I can throw a side-eye too.
It's not all about the humor, Leslie."
Although she had a sense of humor when it came to Saturday Night Live, Faulkner wasn't
laughing at all when Hasbro used her namesake for a small, plastic hamster figurine in its
"Littlest Pet Shop" line.
According to CNN Money, in 2015, Faulkner filed a complaint against the toy company that read,
"Hasbro's false suggestion that Faulkner endorsed its product directly impugns Faulkner's journalistic
integrity, by suggesting that she has entered into a business relationship with the company
(when she has not) and that she has lent her good name to a demeaning plastic rodent (when she did not)."
The lawsuit added that certain elements of the toy also mimicked her look, specifically
her eyelash extensions.
Faulkner reached a settlement with Hasbro in 2016.
In addition to having spent her childhood living in different countries around the world,
these days Faulkner continues to be well-traveled.
Still, she says the best vacation of her life was her honeymoon in Hawaii.
She told Luxury Travel Magazine,
"It's an island that has peace, and quiet, and views.
It really is very special."
These days, Faulkner enjoys visiting her second home in Sedona, Arizona, where her family
enjoys hiking, spas, waterparks, and golf.
Faulkner's other favorite destinations include Barbados, Maine, and Montauk, New York.
She told the outlet that, with her two kids in tow, the East Coast spots make for easy
road trips from their New Jersey home.
When she's not taking off on a trip, Faulkner told the outlet that she blows off steam by spending time outside.
She says,
"I like to slip off my shoes and socks and find solid ground.
[…] I like to let my feet hit the earth."
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