Names mentioned as potential successors for Ailes include Bill Shine, who oversees the network’s non-news and opinion content; Jay Wallace, who runs news programming; Michael Clemente, head of specials; David Rhodes, a former high-ranking Fox News executive who is now president of CBS News; New York Post Publisher Jesse Angelo; and Christopher Ruddy, the chief executive of the online conservative news website Newsmax and a former New York Post reporter.
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The announcement of Alies’ resignation came two weeks after Gretchen Carlson’s filing of a sexual harassment case against him.
NY magazine followed up with reports of other women who said they had been harassed by Ailes. 21st Century Fox says Fox News Network CEO Roger Ailes is resigning.
However, Ailes’ attorney Susan Estrich refuted those claims on Tuesday, July 19. The Murdoch sons may also seek to make a statement by reaching outside the current Fox News culture.
It was an unexpected visit, and with stunned employees listening in Fox’s midtown Manhattan headquarters, Murdoch announced that Ailes was out as chairman and chief executive. It was a swift fall for the famously resilient executive, who has been with the network 20 years ago and is widely credited for its success.
The resignation marks a swift downfall for Ailes, the 76-year-old media executive who advised several U.S. Republican presidents, including George H.W. Bush, and turned Fox News into the most-watched U.S. cable news channel.
Murdoch was full of praise of Ailes.
Lawyers for Gretchen Carlson, the former Fox News host whose sexual harassment lawsuit against Ailes set in motion the events that led to his departure, released a statement in which they said, “Gretchen Carlson’s extraordinary courage has caused a seismic shift in the media world”.
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”. 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. Fox had flashier graphics, brighter colors and a vitality its staid rivals lacked.
Critics scoffed at Ailes’ promise that he’d lift Fox to first place. “While Roger Ailes ultimately went down as a result of his heinous behavior, twelve years of Media Matters calling out his network for outrageous right-wing propaganda and ensuring that millions of people were aware of it in real-time certainly didn’t hurt”.
Doctor said Fox needs to come to grips with a digital future and look for ways to reach a younger audience, which is something CNN has made inroads on recently.
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”. And I love him personally.
The network has been remarkably stable, with personalities bonded from loyalty to Ailes.
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O’Reilly and Kelly’s contracts are up in 2017, and stars including Greta Van Susteren and Sean Hannity all have clauses in their contracts that allow them to leave the network if Ailes departs, according to media reports. She’s being represented by Montclair, NJ-based litigator Nancy Erika Smith and NY co-counsel Martin Hyman.
