Our personal takeaway from today’s must-read New York Times profile of Fox News head Roger Ailes, by David Carr and Tim Arango: be very, very afraid – because even Rupert Murdoch comes across as terrified of the uber-paranoid evil genius who turned Fox News into the money-printing machine it is today. And don’t let’s even start on Murdoch’s son-in-law Matthew Freud:
“I am by no means alone within the family or the company in being ashamed and sickened by Roger Ailes’s horrendous and sustained disregard of the journalistic standards that News Corporation, its founder and every other global media business aspires to.”
And that’s from a guy described as “the most influential public relations executive in London,” so presumably, he was holding back! The only part of this profile that wasn’t frightening was this sentence: “I built this channel from my life experience,” Mr. Ailes, 69, said.”
69! That’s pretty old. Maybe after this profile trumpeting his domination of both media and politics to the world, Roger Ailes can call it a day and retire to Florida.
A Fox Chief at the Pinnacle of Media and Politics [NYT]
Update: News Corp, understandably, responded to this quote by News.”
And that’s from a guy described as “the most influential public relations executive in London,” so presumably, he was holding back! The only part of this profile that wasn’t frightening was this sentence: “I built this channel from my life experience,” Mr. Ailes, 69, said.”
69! That’s pretty old. Maybe after this profile trumpeting his domination of both media and politics to the world, Roger Ailes can call it a day and retire to Florida.
A Fox Chief at the Pinnacle of Media and Politics [NYT]
Update: News Corp, understandably, responded to this quote by News.”
