Under siege, Fox News boots another

Fox News on Monday announced the exit of one of its co-presidents, Bill Shine, removing a holdover from the Roger Ailes era.

Shine is a veteran newsman and a longtime lieutenant to Ailes, the former chairman who was forced out amid a sexual harassment scandal in July. Shine’s continued presence in the newsroom was viewed by some employees as a sign that Fox News’ parent, 21st Century Fox, was not serious about its stated commitment to reform the culture of the network.

Shine had been cited in several lawsuits as someone who enabled and concealed Ailes’ behavior and dismissed concerns from women. He has denied all wrongdoing.

Sean Hannity, the channel’s 10 p.m. mainstay, is particularly close with Shine, and he publicly defended his friend last week on Twitter, saying that removing Shine would be “the total end of the FNC as we know it. Done.”

Meanwhile, Fox News faced a fresh legal challenge Monday after Diana Falzone, a reporter at the network, accused it of discriminating against her on the basis of her gender and her fight against a chronic disease.

Falzone, who appeared regularly on Fox News, claimed in a suit filed Monday in the New York state Supreme Court that she had been banned from further appearances after writing an op-ed column for Fox News disclosing that she had endometriosis and was likely to be infertile.

In addition to Ailes’ departure, last month, Bill O’Reilly, the network’s most-popular host, was pushed out after The New York Times revealed that five women had been paid about $13 million to settle harassment claims. Ailes and O’Reilly both deny the allegations against them.

Last week, 11 current and former employees filed a class-action lawsuit against the network accusing it of racial discrimination.