“There would be a concern if it became just mildly to the right of center”, Graham said. Ailes’ ouster came two weeks after Gretchen Carlson, one of the news hosts on Fox filed a lawsuit alleging Ailes has sexually harassed her. Ailes denied the allegations, and stated that her firing was actually due to the sagging ratings of her show, which he said were starting to bring down ratings for the other afternoon FOX News shows. Earlier this week, a lawyer for Megyn Kelly, the network’s rising star, acknowledged that she spoke to the investigators from law firm Paul, Weiss. Roger and Rupert [Murdoch, 21 Century Fox executive chairman] will talk. Murdoch also is executive chairman of News Corp.
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In these legal documents, Carlson claims that Ailes “sabotaged her career because she refused sexual advances and complained about severe and pervasive sexual harassment”. He went on to write, “Having spent 20 years building this historic business, I will not allow my presence to become a distraction from the work that must be done every day to ensure that Fox News and Fox Business continue to lead our industry”.
The replacement of Lex Fenwick with William Lewis as CEO of Dow Jones and the Wall Street Journal publisher in 2014 is instructive in how the same company replaced a strong personality who rubbed some people the wrong way with a more soothing one, said Ken Doctor, a media consultant for Newsonomics and Politico. [Bill] Shine, the senior programming executive, does not command the same level of respect from the Murdochs, while the former top news executive, Michael Clemente, was recently sidelined by Ailes. It has dominated all other cable news channels for 14 years.
A former key figure in the Republican Party, he helped turn the channel into an influential voice in U.S. politics.
“Who cares?” said Dick Stewart a delegate from Harrisburg Pennsylvania as he stood on the convention floor at the Quicken Loans Arena Thursday evening.
“Despite its “Fair and Balanced” slogan, Fox News under Ailes’ leadership has embraced its role as the communications arm of the Republican Party”, said Eric Hananoki and Ben Dimiero in a column for the watchdog group Media Matters for America. “I admire him professionally”, Fox News anchor Chris Wallace said in an email.
Whoever takes over as Ailes’s permanent successor will face some long-term challenges. It notes that Fox News has a relatively old audience with most of its prime-time viewers over 65 years old. The Murdoch sons may also seek to make a statement by reaching outside the current Fox News culture. The move is also seen as a win for Murdoch’s sons, James and Lachlan, who Wolff said were fed up with Ailes and were lobbying for him to leave. “This is not about sexual harassment”. “If Fox tries to recast itself it is likely to fail”, said Chris Harper, a former ABC News correspondent who is now a journalism professor at Temple University.
Mr Murdoch, who cut short a vacation on the French Riviera to return to NY, according to the Guardian newspaper, said he was taking the reins at Fox “to ensure continuity of all that is best about Fox News and what it stands for”.
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Dramatic changes to the on-air product would be foolhardy, Heyward said.
