Short questions with Dana Perino for Claudia Cowan

You've seen us on screen, but have you ever wondered what we're like off-camera?

For the last few months, I’ve enjoyed checking in with some of your favorite Fox personalities to learn more about who they are behind the scenes.

What's the one thing Jesse Watters couldn’t live without? What's Bill Hemmer’s favorite Halloween costume? And what's sitting on Greg Gutfeld’s nightstand?

But that's not all! The fun is just getting started.

This week, we're excited to shine the spotlight on Claudia Cowan. She's served as Fox News Channel’s San Francisco-based senior correspondent for more than 20 years. She joined the network as a San Francisco correspondent in 1998.

Among many other stories, she covered the 2022 San Francisco school board’s recall election and COVID-19 policies. In addition, she has extensively reported on the crime wave surging throughout California — and in 2020, she provided live coverage from Seattle’s Capitol Hill Organized Protest (CHOP) zone. She has also provided critical coverage surrounding the fatal California wildfires that have impacted the West Coast in recent years.

P.S. We have so much more in store for you. Stay tuned each week for new editions of "Short Questions with Dana Perino" — and if there’s a question you want answers to or a suggestion for the person I should interview next, leave a note in the comments section below.

This week, California-based Claudia Cowan answers an array of Dana Perino's "Short questions" — sharing of her work, "My favorite story is my next one." She also reveals her favorite movies, the best advice she's ever received — and her choice of greatest innovation from Silicon Valley. (Fox News/Claudia Cowan)

Q: Let’s start with a little background. Where are you from? Where’d you go to school? And what local markets did you work in prior to joining Fox?

CC: I grew up in Beverly Hills, California, with parents who worked in the entertainment industry.

My father, Warren Cowan, founded Rogers & Cowan, the preeminent public relations firm in Hollywood, and my mother is veteran actress of stage and screen Barbara Rush.

I went to boarding school in Colorado Springs for my four years of high school, then spent a year at UC Santa Barbara before transferring and graduating with a BA in English from UCLA in 1985.

"I’ve been very blessed to have worked my whole life in my home state of California."

Prior to working at Fox, my first job was as a messenger at KTTV in Los Angeles, then as an assignment desk editor, reporter and anchor at KMST in Monterey, reporter and anchor for seven years at KOVR in Sacramento, and reporter and anchor at KRON in San Francisco.

I’ve been very blessed to have worked my whole life in my home state of California.

Q: You’ve covered a number of big stories at Fox. Which one stands out to you as your favorite assignment to date and why?

CC: My biggest and longest running assignment is the Scott Peterson case. It began as a missing person story on Christmas Eve 2002, when Laci Peterson vanished without a trace from Modesto, California, and continued into last year with a judge’s denial of Peterson’s appeal for a new trial based on allegations of a stealth juror who was out to punish him.

This story gripped the nation, and I was glad to tell the many angles: defense attorney Mark Geragos with his radical theories about what might have happened to Laci, Sharon Rocha’s emotional appeal for her daughter to be returned, and then her gut-wrenching statement in court about how Laci and Conner were buried together — then the legal twists and turns as Scott tried to overturn his conviction.

My favorite story is my next one.

Q: I'm curious: What's your absolute favorite movie of all time?

CC: Gosh, that’s a hard one, but I love the classics like "My Fair Lady," "The Ghost and Mrs. Muir" and "The Bishop’s Wife."

One favorite starred my mom, "Magnificent Obsession." It’s about helping others without wanting any credit, or anything in return. I love the message of that movie, that this kind of anonymous generosity can become an obsession.

Q: If you could be a character in any film, who would you choose to be and why?

CC: I’d be Sherlock Holmes, the version beautifully played by Benedict Cumberbatch, because he seemingly knows how to take the smallest clues and solve any mystery with swagger and flair.

"I would love the ability to find missing people and bring peace to their families."

Given all the tragic stories I’ve covered, I would love the ability to find missing people and bring peace to their families.

Q: If you could invite any three musicians, dead or alive, to a dinner party where you would collaborate together on a song, who would you choose?

CC: I think I’d have Burt Bacharach, a truly remarkable songwriter, plus Ella Fitzgerald, one of the best singers ever, and Quincy Jones to produce what I think would be one hell of a ballad.

Q: What is the best advice you've ever been given?

CC: I used to get nervous doing live shots, and my mom would tell me to just "talk to me, Claudia." She would tell me to forget about the millions of viewers tuning in and just tell the story to her alone, and I’d try to picture her face behind the camera.

That really did help settle my nerves and help me focus on telling the story as if I was talking to my favorite person.

Q: Let’s pivot to technology and innovation. In your view, what stands out as the greatest invention to emerge from Silicon Valley?

CC: I’d have to say the laptop computer, like the MacBook Pro on which I am working right now.

"Innovators in Silicon Valley continue to make upgrades, so my favorite invention will keep getting better."

My laptop is my portable office, organizer, photo gallery and mode of communication via text, email and top line. It makes my life so much easier than back in the days when I wrote everything out longhand in spiral notebooks.

The best part is, those innovators in Silicon Valley continue to make upgrades, so my favorite invention will keep getting better.

Q: Follow: What is one app on your phone that you swear by, but it might not be on mine?

CC: FindMy. I have two grown children who live miles away and we don’t talk every day.

But when I miss them, I can see where they (or at least their phones) are on the FindMy app, and feel a small measure of comfort.

Q: Who is your favorite person you follow on X, formerly known as Twitter?

CC: Before my Twitter account was suspended last year, I enjoyed following James Woods, the actor who is a voice of reason for the center-right, and who calls out hypocrites and bias and downright lies. He also praises the heroes out there who do the right thing, and I love his posts that give nods to Hollywood legends, too.

For obvious reasons, I don’t want people to forget veteran stars from Hollywood’s Golden Age.

Q: When you were a little kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?

CC: Initially, I wanted to be an actress, following in my mother’s footsteps, and then when I discovered I didn’t want that life badly enough to sit through countless auditions to no avail, I tried my hand at my father’s career and spent time working at his public relations firm.

That didn’t resonate either, so I decided to become a travel writer. While I was looking for a job at a travel magazine, I worked as a messenger at KTTV in Los Angeles, and on my first day walked into the newsroom. The noon newscast was underway, phones were ringing, wire machines were churning, and all hell was breaking loose behind the anchors — who maintained a cool composure amid the controlled chaos.

"I don’t cook, but I do make a mean bread pudding."

When they winked at me during a commercial break, I knew I’d found my calling. To this day, I am combining the best of what my parents did — I’m on TV and selling a story — and pinch myself when I think of how it all turned out.

Q: If you were a contestant on a cooking show, what signature dish would you prepare to impress the judges?

CC: I don’t cook, but I do make a mean bread pudding using croissants, thinly sliced apples, cinnamon and raisins, topped off with a Grand Marnier sauce that slays every time. I think they’d be impressed.

Q: What do you love most about working for Fox News?

CC: So many things, including the company's loyalty to — and faith in — longtime employees who get to tell stories you won’t see anywhere else.

But on a personal level, Fox has hired my daughter, Sabrina, and is giving her a path to success in the same way it gave one to me. My daughter grew up seeing a mom happy to get up at midnight to cover breaking news, fires and court cases, a mom thrilled to be asked to anchor on Christmas, and every day, she sees an example of someone who finds confidence and strength in doing hard work well.

When people talk about being part of the Fox family, this is what it means.

I am so blessed to have worked at Fox since the start, to have covered so many important stories, to work with so many wonderful people, and now, to see my daughter grow here as well (Sabrina is an associate producer at Fox Nation).

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To read all of Dana Perino's earlier "Short Questions" interviews for Fox News Digital, check out this (long) list!

For her interview with Max Gorden, click here.

For her interview with Jared Cohen, click here.

For her interview with William La Jeunesse, click here.

For her interview with Matt Finn, click here.

For her interview with Rich Edson, click here.

For her interview with Gov. Chris Sununu, click here.

For her interview with Ross Rayburn, click here.

For her interview with Mark Meredith, click here.

For her interview with Emily Compagno, click here.

For her interview with Chad Pergram, click here.