Former Fox exec could replace Hope Hicks
WASHINGTON — Bill Shine, a former Fox News executive who was close to Roger Ailes, the network’s ousted chairman, is expected to be offered the job of White House communications director, according to four people familiar with the decision.
Shine, who was forced out as co-president at Fox News last May for his handling of sexual harassment scandals at the network, has met with President Donald Trump in recent weeks about taking the West Wing communications job, which has been vacant since Hope Hicks left the position in March.
Four people familiar with the decision said it likely was to be announced and that the president had offered him the job. But the move has not been finalized, in part because of the president’s mercurial decision-making process and also because of Shine’s reluctance to walk into a chaotic West Wing.
As recently as a month ago, Shine did not want the job, according to a person familiar with his thinking. The former television executive was reluctant to deal with all the scrutiny, part of which could focus on his own connection to the sexual harassment scandal at Fox News, the person said.
On Wednesday, Shine did not respond to a request for comment, and the White House did not immediately respond to an email requesting comment.
Shine was a central figure at Fox News during the era the late Ailes was the company’s dominant player, helping to turn the broadcast network into a powerful conservative force in television and politics.
He started as a producer at Fox News, but nearly two decades later, Shine had become co-president at the network, widely seen as one of the top executives and protégé to Ailes.
A Long Island commuter and son of a New York City policeman, the unassuming Shine was viewed inside Fox News as embodying the network’s typical viewer, urging producers to run segments on bread-andbutter issues that would appeal to conservatives.