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According to the Hollywood Reporter, Roger Ailes is to resign as chairman and CEO of Fox News. Rupert Murdoch is to take over Ailes' responsibilities. The resignation comes after accusations of sexual harassment. It is rumoured that he will receive $40 million as he leaves, but that he will be subject to a non-compete agreement.
Ailes had been with Fox News since its founding in 1996. Prior to that, he was a Republican political consultant.
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There's no such thing as an original sin.
-- Elvis Costello
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Sunday July 24 2016, @06:25AM
You are many things, but I didn't think you were especially obtuse.
As bad as Fox is now, they at least pretend to be "fair and balanced". What happens if they just drop the pretense? People complain about unfair coverage now - when they go on vicious attacks on anyone and everyone who doesn't toe the party line, or whatever Murdoch thinks the party line should be, that will be a tremendous change.
Refresh your memory of the McCarthy days. Murdoch is capable of all of that, and more. And, worst of all, he has so damned much money, he can get away with almost ANYTHING.
It took an investigation into a little girl's murder in the UK to stop Murdoch from paying hackers to break into celebrity and political figure's emails and social accounts. Sure, they put their own spin on the whole issue, making it look like junior execs were responsible for all of that. BUT - those celebrities who fought, and were eventually paid off to drop charges were paid out of Murdoch's personal funds. That is, Murdoch took money out of his own pocket, not corporate coffers, to pay off the pissed off celebrities.
Then, after at least a half dozen payoffs, he has the audacity to pretend that he knew nothing of the hacking.
As things stand right now, there is a little bit of insulation between the evil emperor, and his puppet news outlet. That insulation does serve his own purposes, but it also protects Fox and the American publc from his direct meddling.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by aristarchus on Sunday July 24 2016, @07:43AM
Runaway, Runaway! Did you ever get the feeling you were just out of your league here on the internets? Do you find that people misunderstand your points, and respond with points that make no sense to you? Then you might be a (tm Jeff Foxworthy) redneck. This is not meant as an insult, redneck lives matter, and some of my best friends are rednecks. However, I do not go to them for the finer points of political propaganda.
You are many things, but I didn't think you were especially obtuse.
See above. As Walt Whitman said: "Do I contradict myself? Very well, then I contradict myself, I am large, I contain multitudes."
As bad as Fox is now, they at least pretend to be "fair and balanced". What happens if they just drop the pretense?
If they stop pretending? As in, a court case for lying resulting in the Fox News organization admitting that they lie? As a matter of policy? Fairy Unbalances, and that is just the Milo/gay side of the deep closeted Republican operatives. The "dirty old man" contingent, the "Fair and Look at those gams!" side, had some more cred with the Evangelicals, the "social conservatives", the "squirrel-eating Huckabee" contingent (actually squirrel is not bad, compared to prairie jack rabbit), but they are losing even that now that the men's rights crew are all whining entitled non-conservatives and gamergaters instead of "true" conservatives.
No, the point is that there is nothing Fox News can do that is worse. Anything that they do will remove the pretense of journalism, something that has been rather transparent to most for a rather long time. And then they will be less influential, less dangerous, more like the Washington Times and Breitbart, in other words, they will become toothless right-wing nut-job websites, just on cable.
The loss of legitimacy is the one thing that can kill an alleged news organization. Fox is there. Fox is dead. No one believes anything that Fox says anymore. Trump thinks they are liars. And everyone knows Trump is a liar. So when you are nothing but a liar to liars, well, game over?
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Sunday July 24 2016, @11:22AM
You should study a little about propaganda. I assure you, Fox can get much worse than it is. Your attempts at mockery don't change the fact that things CAN get worse.
I wonder - do you have a stunted imagination?