Murdoch takes helm at Fox News
NEW YORK — Fox News Channel is without founding leader Roger Ailes, but not without direction, Rupert Murdoch has vowed.
“I am personally committed to ensuring that Fox News remains a distinctive, powerful voice. Our nation needs a robust Fox News to resonate from every corner of the country,” Murdoch said in a statement Thursday after Ailes, 76, resigned under pressure as chief executive while fighting a workplace misconduct suit.
The vacuum left by Ailes’s departure after two decades will be filled for now by Murdoch, 85, the executive chairman of network parent 21st Century Fox. He will run Fox News and its sister Fox Business Network, which Ailes had also led, until a successor is found.
Former Fox anchor Gretchen Carlson’s lawsuit alleges she was forced out by Ailes after she spurned his sexual advances. Ailes has denied the claims and did not comment on his resignation.
Carlson’s lawyers, Nancy Erika Smith and Martin Hyman, said in a statement: “We hope that all businesses now understand that women will no longer tolerate sexual harassment and reputable companies will no longer shield those who abuse women.”
Within two weeks of the court filing, Carlson’s lawyers said, more than 20 women had contacted the firm with stories of alleged harassment by Ailes, either against themselves or someone they knew. Murdoch and 21st Century Fox did not address the widening scandal in the statement, but lauded Ailes for his contributions. 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 US.
Ailes will have no formal role in the company, but is expected to serve as an informal adviser to Murdoch, a source said. 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.
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 the person who follows him lack Ailes’s political instincts or tone down aggressive opinion? That could make Fox more broadly palatable, but also risks alienating the audience that has made Fox such a success.
Murdoch said Fox managers Bill Shine, Jay Wallace and Mark Kranz will assist in day-to-day management.
The blustery Ailes 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-andtumble style of politics that left many concerned that it was impossible to get things done in government.
Ailes’ downfall began with the July 6 lawsuit filing by 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. 21st Century Fox hired a law firm to investigate.
Several Fox employees defended Ailes, 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 Murdoch and his sons, James and Lachlan, determined Ailes had to go.