Fox News adds native of Conway
Chanley Painter has some late nights in her future.
The former Arkansas deputy prosecuting attorney and broadcast journalist, who has reported for Court TV since 2019, is the new overnight anchor for Fox News.
“It’s exciting,” she says during an interview from her office in New York City last week. “I’ve always been a fan of the network and when the opportunity came along I really felt like it was God opening a door in my life.”
Painter grew up in Conway and graduated with a degree in political science from the University of Central Arkansas. She received her law degree, with honors, from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock’s William H. Bowen School of Law.
In 2012, she became deputy prosecuting attorney for the 16th Judicial District of Arkansas. Four years later she got her start in broadcast journalism as a legal analyst for KARK 4 and FOX 16’s coverage of the trial of Arron Lewis, who was found guilty of capital murder and kidnapping in the 2014 death of Realtor Beverly Carter.
She decided to pursue journalism and eventually went to work full time at KARK 4 and Fox 16.
“I was like, this is what I want to do,” she says, adding that she had to pay her dues and learn the craft. “I took whatever assignments were available. I even went there in my free time to learn how to work the camera with the photographer and edit packages.”
Court TV came calling late 2018 and Painter started work as a legal correspondent for the network in February, 2019.
“I’ve been living out of a suitcase for five years,” she says. “I’ve gone from one trial to another across the U.S. and I’ve loved every minute of it.”
She’s covered some high-profile cases, including trials involving Harvey Weinstein, Johnny Depp and Amber Heard, convicted killer Alex Murdaugh, and the death of George Floyd.
One memory she holds dear is spending time with Steve Goncalves, father of slain University of Idaho student Kaylee Goncalves.
“He invited me to ride with him in her vehicle, which she had just purchased before she was murdered,” she says. “He drove her car to give out money to local coffee shops and places where she worked. … It was part of a pay-it-forward campaign that her family put on to honor her memory.”
There wasn’t a date set for Painter’s Fox debut when we spoke last week, but she will begin training for the overnight shift this week.
“I’ll be learning that schedule, the workload and the teammates,” she says.
Painter is a former Miss Arkansas-USA and was a state champion fiddle player. Yes, she still loves to play.
“The fiddle goes everywhere with me,” she says. “I’ve got it here with me, and I’m trying to find some pickers to play with me here in New York City.”