Roger Ailes is out as chief executive at Fox News Channel, his career at the network he built from scratch and ran with an iron hand for nearly 20 years over with stunning swiftness following allegations that he forced out a former anchor after she spurned his sexual advances.
Network parent 21st Century Fox said Thursday that Rupert Murdoch, the company’s executive chairman, would run Fox News and its sister Fox Business Network, which Ailes had also led, until a successor could be found.
Murdoch and 21st Century Fox did not address the widening scandal in the statement on the resignation but lauded Ailes for his contributions. Ailes did not comment in the resignation announcement.
“I am personally committed to ensuring that Fox News remains a distinctive, powerful voice,” Murdoch said. “Our nation needs a robust Fox News to resonate from every corner of the country.”
Cutting short a vacation, the 85-year-old Murdoch addressed Fox News employees in New York on Thursday. Details were not given on the settlement agreement for a contract that was supposed to run through 2018, but Ailes is expected to get a payment of at least $40 million.
Ailes will have no formal role in the company, but is expected to serve as an informal adviser to Murdoch, said a person familiar with the agreement who spoke on condition of anonymity because it is a personnel matter. The deal is also said to have a standard no-compete clause.
Fox is heading into a general election campaign in its customary spot at the top of the ratings, but without the man who sets its editorial tone every day. The announcement came on the day Donald Trump is to accept the GOP nomination for president, a speech likely to be watched by more people on Fox than any other network.
The blustery, 76-year-old media executive built a network that both transformed the news business and changed the political conversation. Fox News Channel provided a television home to conservatives who had felt left out of the media, and played a part in advancing a rough-and-tumble style of politics that left many concerned that it was impossible to get things done in government.
Ailes’ downfall began with the July 6 filing of a lawsuit by Gretchen Carlson, who charged that he sabotaged her career because she refused his suggestions for sex and had complained about a pervasive atmosphere of sexual harassment at Fox. Ailes has denied the charges, but 21st Century Fox hired a law firm to investigate.
In a statement, Carlson’s attorneys credited Carlson’s “extraordinary courage” with causing “a seismic shift in the media world.”
Several Fox employees jumped to Ailes’ defense, but notably not Megyn Kelly, one of Fox’s top personalities. In rapid succession, it was reported that Kelly was among other women who had told investigators about harassment — again denied by Ailes — and that corporate heads Rupert Murdoch and his sons, James and Lachlan, determined that Ailes had to go. The company has no plans to make results of its investigation public.
Within two weeks of the court filing, Carlson’s lawyers also said more than 20 women had contacted the firm with stories of alleged harassment by Ailes either against themselves or someone they knew. Two came forward publicly.
Before the charges, Fox’s sheer success had insulated Ailes despite some previous scrapes with the Murdoch sons over who he would report to. Fox News Channel is the parent company’s single most important property, said Pivotal Research Group analyst Brian Wieser, with some estimates that it accounted for nearly a quarter of the company’s profits.
Ailes was a prominent Republican media consultant who later ran CNBC before Murdoch asked him to create a cable news network to compete with CNN at the same time MSNBC was starting. Ailes’ slogans, “fair and balanced” and “we report, you decide,” appealed to an audience that believed mainstream outlets didn’t live up to those promises.
“He was ahead of his time in recognizing that dividing, not uniting, an audience would be the key to commercial success in the 21st Century cable news business,” said Matt Sienkiewicz, communications professor at Boston College. Ailes blew apart the notion that public affairs programming should target a broad audience with civil debates, he said.
Ailes hired a combative broadcast journeyman in Bill O’Reilly and turned him into the star of an opinionated prime-time lineup. He directed news coverage and emphasized issues like the so-called “war on Christmas” or the Benghazi investigation that otherwise got little attention. Republican politicians considered Fox the first stop for reaching their intended audience, and they learned to talk tough. “We’re not going to be defensive about anything,” Ailes said at the network’s launch.
“It is always difficult to create a channel or a publication from the ground up and against seemingly entrenched monopolies,” Murdoch said on Thursday. “(Ailes’) grasp of policy and his ability to make profoundly important issues accessible to a broader audience stand in stark contrast to the self-serving elitism that characterizes far too much of the media.”
He was also a showman. Fox had flashier graphics, brighter colors and a vitality its staid rivals lacked. The daytime show “Outnumbered” is a classic Ailes concept: four women in dresses, their legs prominently displayed, debating issues with a single male panelist.
In 2011, Ailes told The Associated Press that he hired Sarah Palin as an analyst — a decision that later gave him headaches — “because she was hot and got ratings.”
Ailes demanded and usually received loyalty from a team that knew there could be hell to pay otherwise. When Paula Zahn left Fox for a job at CNN, Ailes retaliated by saying that a dead raccoon could have done her show and gotten the same ratings.
Critics scoffed at Ailes’ promise that he’d lift Fox to first place. By 2002, he did, and Fox hasn’t looked back.
Ailes groomed no obvious successors, and has been so identified with the brand that many have a hard time envisioning the network without him. Will his successor lack Ailes’ political instincts, or tone down aggressive opinion? That could make Fox more broadly palatable, but also risks alienating the audience that has grown to love Fox and made it such a success.
Murdoch said Fox managers Bill Shine, Jay Wallace and Mark Kranz will assist him in day-to-day management of the network. Long-term, CBS News President David Rhodes is well-regarded and worked at Fox in the past. The Murdoch sons may also seek to make a statement by reaching outside the current Fox News culture.
“Whoever invented the Coca-Cola formula has long since passed this Earth, but the brand keeps selling because people like the taste,” said Mark Feldstein, a journalism professor at the University of Maryland. “I think that’s how it’s going to be with Roger Ailes. He invented this winning formula and all you have to do is not mess with it too much and it will continue to mint money for you.”
Documentary filmmaker Robert Greenwald, who made 2004’s “Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch’s War on Journalism,” said he hopes the younger Murdochs will take this moment to change the network’s philosophy.
“I certainly think that some of the hatred and anger and racism and fear that we’re seeing in this election has clearly and absolutely been stoked and stroked by Fox News,” he said. “Once he’s gone, I hope the younger Murdochs will attempt to take an approach in which it does become a news outlet rather than a propaganda outlet.”
But Fox would have to tread carefully to not alienate a loyal audience who will be concerned this news could change its favorite outlet.
“We’re not going to see any quick changes,” said Ken Doctor, a media consultant for Newsonomics and Politico. “That would be foolish from a business point of view.”
While ratings are soaring in an election year, a newly aggressive CNN is making inroads among younger viewers that advertisers seek. Fox faces the challenge of trying to inject youth into an audience that is among the oldest in television, and viewership is expected to inevitably fall without the excitement of a campaign.
The network has also been remarkably stable, with personalities bonded from loyalty to Ailes. O’Reilly has recently mused about retirement, and he and Sean Hannity reportedly have contract provisions that would allow them to leave if Ailes does. Kelly’s contract ends later this year and it would be a huge blow to the network if she left.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
I could care less if Kelly left the network. She is only in it to further her career in stirring up trouble. As for Fox News, I hope they don’t go liberal to get young viewers.
Sharon,
I’m with you about Kelly. I was a fan of Shawn Hannity and resented him being moved to accommodate her. I don’t watch her show.
I boycotted Kelly’s show. Can’t stand her smug better than everyone attitude. On the other hand….I think Sean Hannity would make a great press secretary for a Trump White House!
I certainly hope that Fox remains the network it has been for so long. It would be a disaster for Fox and for America and in fact the entire civilized world if they became just another lying part of the lame brained media such as NBC, CBS, CNN, MSNBC, ABC, and their ilk. They are totally useless as news outlets. They constitute nothing more than an American version of Pravda during the 1950s. We don’t need that.
Fox lost me when several months ago they became the “Super Pac” for Trump. Hannity lost me after the way he treated Cruz for not endorsing Trump when everybody knew that he wasn’t going to even Trump knew that when he was invited to speak.
Fox is now the unfair and and unbalanced news station. The O’Reilly show is nothing but spin.
I HOPE FOX STAYS AS IT IS. AS FOR KELLY SHE IS LOOKING TO MAKE HERSELF LARGER THEN LIFE. AS FAR AS I’M CONCERNED FUELS THESE PROBLEMS WE HAVE AND LOVE’S THE FACT THE COUNTRY IS GOING THREW A BAD PERIOD. I DON’T LIKE HER AS A MATTER OF FACT I WATCH FOX NEWS AT NIGHT BUT FOR HER HOUR TURN TO A DIFFERENT STATION. WE DON’T NEED ANYMORE CBS,NBC,CNN,MSN, THEY ARE JUST TO FAR TO THE LEFT FOR ME AND ARE NOT FOR THE PEOPLE THEIR FOR GIVING IMFORMATION TO SUIT THEIR AGENDA. THEY SPIN EVERYTHING TO SUIT THEIR NARRATIVE THEY SHOULD BE STOOPED! FOX NETWORK PLEASE STAY THE WAY YOU ARE OR WE WILL JUST FIND A NEW HOME FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE LOOKING FOR FAIR AND BALANCED REPORTING!
I’ve been wondering about this for a while and I will use the previous message as an example. Do you notice how Thomas doesn’t understand English, grammar, punctuation very well? It looks as though he’s using English as second language. So, where is he from? Is he a troll from a foreign country? I’m just wondering.
FOX news should stay true to reporting the news as it —do not add or take away anything, they should not renew Megan Kelly and Shepard smith contract. Both bad for FOX.
I agree…she makes me turn the channel since she became so “High and Mighty! Shepard would be ok if he didn’t “Bark” so much, he too thinks he is above it all!
Agree those two can GO!!
I think that Fox lives up to its moniker of fair and balanced. Megan Kelley, Sean Hannity and Bill O Reilly are the top 3 broadcasters in the news business and I hope they stay with Fox. Fox IS the network to beat but I can’t see any of the other networks being able to do. that because they are neither fair or balanced and are in the tank for Democrats.
i watched youtube vid of Alex Jones and Roger Stone wherein they say that the firing of Ailes had nothing to do with sexual harassment and everything to do with an attack on the First Amendment. They also say that they spoke with Hannity and several others who said that if Ailes goes, THEY go, too – but that remains to be seen.
Personally, i feel that CCMSM – Corporate Controlled Main Stream Media – is in the pockets of 6 corporate entities, all CEO’s of which are Satanic, and all of whom promote, facilitate, and encourage the NWO/OWG creepazoids, the agenda of the super rich.
“One of our best-kept secrets is the degree to which a handful of huge corporations control the flow of information in the United States. Whether it is television, radio, newspapers, magazines, books or the Internet, a few giant conglomerates are determining what we see, hear and read. And the situation is likely to become much worse as a result of radical deregulation efforts by the Bush administration and some horrendous court decisions. Television is the means by which most Americans get their “news.” Without exception, every major network is owned by a huge conglomerate that has enormous conflicts of interest. … The bottom line is that fewer and fewer huge conglomerates are controlling virtually everything that the ordinary American sees, hears and reads. This is an issue that Congress can no longer ignore.”
— Bernie Sanders(1941-) US Senator VT, former US Congressman VT
Source: “Congress Can No Longer Ignore Corporate Control of the Media,” The Hill (12 June 2002)
“In March, 1915, the J.P. Morgan interests, the steel, shipbuilding, and powder interest, and their subsidiary organizations, got together 12 men high up in the newspaper world and employed them to select the most influential newspapers in the United States and sufficient number of them to control generally the policy of the daily press. … They found it was only necessary to purchase the control of 25 of the greatest papers. An agreement was reached; the policy of the papers was bought, to be paid for by the month; an editor was furnished for each paper to properly supervise and edit information regarding the questions of preparedness, militarism, financial policies, and other things of national and international nature considered vital to the interests of the purchasers.”
— Oscar Callaway(1872-1947) U.S. Congressman, TX-D (1911-1917)
Source: Congressional Record of February 9, 1917, page 2947, as entered by Representative Oscar Callaway of Texas
“There is no such thing, at this date of the world’s history, in America as an independent press. You know it and I know it.
There is not one of you who dares to write your honest opinions, and if you did, you know beforehand that it would never appear in print. I am paid weekly for keeping my honest opinions out of the paper I am connected with. Others of you are paid similar salaries for similar things, and any of you who would be so foolish as to write honest opinions would be out on the streets looking for another job. If I allowed my honest opinions to appear in one issue of my paper, before twenty-four hours my occupation would be gone.
The business of the journalists is:
to destroy the truth;
to lie outright;
to pervert;
to vilify;
to fawn at the feet of mammon, and
to sell his country and his race for his daily bread.
You know it and I know it and what folly is this toasting an independent press? We are the tools and vassals of rich men behind the scenes. We are jumping jacks, they pull the strings and we dance. Our talents, our possibilities and our lives are all the property of other men. We are intellectual prostitutes.”
— John Swinton(1829-1901) Former Head of Editorial Staff for the New York Times was one of America’s best loved newspapermen. Called by his peers “The Dean of his Profession”, in 1880, at a banquet in his honor.
Source: Labor’s Untold Story, by Richard O. Boyer and Herbert M. Morais, published by United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of America, NY, 1955/1979
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
“Freedom of the Press” means squat unless you own the presses (or Horns of the Beast, as it were). According to the foregoing, the ultra-wealthy attained control of virtually all media a long, long time ago – until the internet. Even WITH the internet, you must needs screen your info carefully and vet it, because many nations’ intelligence apparatchiks deliberately disseminate disinfo. The PtB want you to be unsure who to trust.
The big media story of the year: Roger Ailes no longer works for Rupert Murdoch; but Donald Trump still does.
Kelly MUST GO. She got a Big Head lately & doesn’t treat her guest like Professional People anymore & always Laughs & thinks So Cute. She also dresses inappropriate & that she looks like she is in VEGAS. She looks like she is flirting with men. I think the BOSS should stay. It is the girls that Flirt & tease the men. Bill O’Reilly & Sean Hannity are the Stars & people wait every night for them to come one because they at lease keep us up with REAL NEWS. They are VERY PROFESSIONAL & dress PROFESSIONALY. Many people would stop watching Fox if they go. They are #1 as far as see each night.
Recent history is full of women who have made allegations about sexual impropriety only to have their charges fall apart when the matter was investigated and/or presented in court. We should remember that Ailes is innocent until proven guilty. Rumors, charges and innuendo do not equal proof.
This incident may be more about the Murdoch family seeing and taking advantage of an opportunity than about the legitimacy of the Carlson’s lawsuit. The sons may have decided they wanted to run the business rather than having someone outside the family handle the duties. We could find out in time that the whole sexual harassment scandal was concocted by the Murdoch’s to unseat a strong and competent executive. Carlson and Kelly could have been offered some sort of financial incentive to participate in this process.
Will FNC Now go Liberal or stay Course AS IS?
If Go Liberal, we have NO News source.
Same Garbage repeated from other news outlets.
????
Stephen Russell-
If Go Liberal, we have NO News source.
No CCMSM source, that is; you can always do what i do, and search out REAL news online. Hell, RT reports news more honestly than most CCMSM(corporate-controlled mainstream media) in America – even Al Jazeera can be trusted more than, say, NBC, ABC or CBS.
Main stream media is dying, and not a minute too soon. If you know how, check their viewership ratings as compared with many online sources.
They went and replaced real news with “infotainment,” the Image of the Beast’s version of bread and circuses, to keep us distracted and amused(to “muse” is to think, cogitate, reflect, ponder, etc., ergo to “a muse” is to NOT think) so that we can continue to be buffaloed and misdirected away from what is important, even essential, to the survival of the American Republic.
So yeah, visit Breitbart, infowars, Drudge, even The Young Turks, etc., and look for whom else they recommend, too. Or maybe try a google of “alternate news sources.”
If the guy is harassing women then It matters not how talented he is, he needs to go. My impression is that Carlson is honest. I see the comments about Kelly. Her snarky personality rubs me the wrong way and I end up turning her off. I’m grateful for FOX otherwise. Yeah and Shep is a liberal and I’m surprised they even have him on. I turn him off also.