Canada Banfield began her career in 1988 at
CJBN-TV in
Kenora,
Ontario, and at
CKY-TV in Winnipeg later that year. From 1989 to 1992, she anchored the weekend news for
CFRN-TV in
Edmonton. Banfield won two
Iris Awards in 1994 in the categories of Best News Documentary and Best of Festival.
United States In the mid-90s, she began working for
KDFW, first hosting News 4 Texas Daybreak and later co-hosting News 4 Texas at 5:00 and News 4 Texas at 9:00 with Steve Eager. In early 2000, Banfield was hired by national cable network
MSNBC after having won an
Emmy for her reporting at
Dallas broadcast station
KDFW-TV. According to
The New York Times, she "fit nicely with MSNBC's positioning as the news network of choice for younger viewers". She also hosted
MSNBC Investigates, worked at
NBC News, and became a host of
HomePage along with
Gina Gaston and
Mika Brzezinski. On September 11, 2001, Banfield was reporting from the streets of Manhattan amid a cloud of debris from the collapsing World Trade Center. She was reporting a few blocks north of the site when
7 World Trade Center collapsed behind her. After the initial reporting of the attack had ended, Banfield received a promotion, as MSNBC sent her around the world as the producer of a new program,
A Region in Conflict. Banfield lost two friends in the
World Trade Center attacks and sought help for
post-traumatic stress disorder. In April 2003, in a
Landon Lecture Series speech at
Kansas State University, Banfield raised concerns regarding media coverage of the conflict in Iraq. She spoke against "cable news operators who wrap themselves in the American flag and go after a certain target demographic" and specifically named
Fox News Channel as an example.
The New York Times reported that her speech angered MSNBC-controlling
NBC management, who rebuked her and lowered her profile. "They just fell in love with a new toy and they played with it and played with it and played with it until the paint came off", said an NBC News correspondent of the network's relationship with Banfield. She was the co-host of the trial coverage show
Banfield & Ford: Courtside weekdays from 1 to 3PM ET with
Jack Ford. On June 1, 2009, Banfield took over as host of the truTV series
Open Court weekdays from 9 to 11 a.m. ET, formerly hosted by
Lisa Bloom. Her last major assignment with the network was reporting on the
Casey Anthony trial. Banfield joined CNN in January 2012 as co-anchor with
Zoraida Sambolin, of the network's morning show,
Early Start. On August 13, 2012, Banfield moved to the 11 a.m. edition of
CNN Newsroom in New York each weekday, replacing
Kyra Phillips as anchor. On August 6, 2013, it was announced that CNN would rebrand its 11 a.m. hour of
CNN Newsroom. The show, called
Legal View with Ashleigh Banfield, aired at 12 noon Eastern. In 2014, Banfield was featured in a small role portraying herself in the Netflix series
House of Cards, where she interviewed
Claire Underwood. In October, Banfield joined CNN sister station HLN as host on the legal issues interview program
Primetime Justice with Ashleigh Banfield, which aired at 8 p.m. Monday to Thursday. In December 2017, the show was re-branded as
Crime & Justice with Ashleigh Banfield. On October 16, 2018, it was announced by HLN that Banfield was to be laid off, along with
Michaela Pereira and
Carol Costello, as part of the network's decision to scale back their live news programming. Final broadcasts of the shows hosted by all three presenters were aired on Friday, October 26, 2018. She then was the inaugural host of the
A&E show
Live Rescue. After the first season,
Matt Iseman took over as host. She resumed hosting programs on CourtTV, including the
true crime documentary series
Judgment with Ashleigh Banfield in 2020. The program recaps past high-profile trials and provides updates on the individuals involved. She also appeared as a special contributor on their evening courtroom highlight show. In January 2021, Banfield was announced as the host to replace the third hour of
NewsNation Prime on
NewsNation, with the self-titled show
Banfield, which ended in January 2026 after five years; Banfield made the decision to end her show to focus more on her true-crime podcast. As of 2025, she serves as a fill-in host for
Dan Abrams on
On Patrol: Live, which airs Friday and Saturday nights on
Reelz. == Personal life ==