On Media Blog Archives Select Date… December, 2015 November, 2015 October, 2015 September, 2015 August, 2015 July, 2015 June, 2015 May, 2015 April, 2015 March, 2015 February, 2015 January, 2015

Roger Ailes | Getty It’s official: Roger Ailes to step down at Fox News

Roger Ailes will step aside as chairman and CEO of Fox News Channel, parent company Twenty-First Century Fox announced, just as the closing bell was rung Thursday afternoon.

Ailes' departure follows allegations of sexual harassment by a former anchor at the TV channel, Gretchen Carlson. Fox hired an outside law firm to investigate the claims, as well as others made by current and former employees. Ailes has vigorously denied the claims, and the independent investigation had not been completed when Ailes announced his resignation Thursday.

Rupert Murdoch will "become chairman and acting CEO of Fox News Channel and Fox Business Network," according to the official announcement. Murdoch traveled to New York on Thursday to personally address the Fox News newsroom, though many of its staff were in Cleveland, covering the Republican National Convention.

There, the group dialed in from its space in the convention center, "Fox News Sunday" host Chris Wallace told reporters who gathered outside the Fox space after the news of Ailes' exit broke.

Wallace joined a small scrum of Fox talent, who waited to talk to reporters in Cleveland until after the call with Murdoch.

"There are people in tears," Wallace said. "I shed mine a couple of days ago when the stories started to come out. ... I’ve never known a boss who transmitted a sense of mission, who transmitted a sense a team and common purpose more than Roger did. The thing that’s different from any place I’ve ever worked is people feel a personal connection to Roger, and I think a lot of people feel a deep sense of personal loss."

Ailes, who founded the channel in 1996 thanks to a large investment by Rupert Murdoch and built it into a major driver of profit for its parent company, Twenty-First Century Fox, and a power player in the national media-political complex, found himself at odds with Murdoch’s two children, Lachlan and James, who are now leading the company.

“Roger Ailes has made a remarkable contribution to our company and our country," said Murdoch in a statement. "Roger shared my vision of a great and independent television organization and executed it brilliantly over 20 great years. Fox News has given voice to those who were ignored by the traditional networks and has been one of the great commercial success stories of modern media. It is always difficult to create a channel or a publication from the ground up and against seemingly entrenched monopolies. ... 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. To ensure continuity of all that is best about Fox News and what it stands for, I will take over as Chairman and acting CEO, with the support of our existing management team under Bill Shine, Jay Wallace and Mark Kranz.”

It was the Murdoch sons who drove the decision to bring in outside investigators from the white-shoe law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison. It was not clear whether that investigation was complete, or had presented any findings to the company's leadership, though multiple leaks led to stories about some of the investigation's findings as it progressed over the past two weeks.

Ailes has staunchly denied the allegations by Carlson, which were delivered in a lawsuit filed with the New Jersey State Supreme Court two weeks ago, and his legal team has filed several preliminary motions aimed at taking the case out of court and into private arbitration.

Carlson's lawyers responded to the news of Ailes' resignation Thursday afternoon by taking credit for the ouster.

"Within two weeks of her filing a lawsuit against Roger Ailes, Gretchen Carlson's extraordinary courage has caused a seismic shift in the media world," the lawyers 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. We thank all the brave women who spoke out about this issue. We will have more to say in coming days as events unfold."

None of the statements released by Fox News, Twenty-First Century Fox, Ailes or Rupert Murdoch directly addressed the accusations.

“We join our father in recognizing Roger’s remarkable contributions to our company," the Murdoch brothers said in a statement. "Our talented Fox News and Fox Business colleagues, up and down the organization and on both sides of the camera, have built something that continues to redefine the cable news experience for millions of viewers. We are enormously proud of their accomplishments."

But the Murdoch sons did signal a connection between workplace ethics and the events that unfolded Thursday afternoon.

"For them, as well as for our colleagues across our entire organization, we continue our commitment to maintaining a work environment based on trust and respect," the statement continued. "We take seriously our responsibility to uphold these traditional, long-standing values of our company.”

Bret Baier, chief political anchor and host of "Special Report with Bret Baier," told reporters in Cleveland that Murdoch's remarks were a rallying cry.

“Basically [the gist of the call] was we have a job to do, and he praised us for the coverage this week and said ‘Let’s do what we do best.’ Yeah it was continuity, that was the message that came out of the conference call,” Baier said.

In a letter to Rupert Murdoch first published by The Drudge Report, Ailes said how "proud" he was of the success of Fox News, adding: "Having spent 20 years building this historic business, I will not allow my presence to become a distraction from the work that must be done every day to ensure that Fox News and Fox Business continue to lead our industry."

As the news broke, Fox News security was attempting to establish a perimeter around Fox News' space at the convention in Cleveland, where reporters had gathered to interview Fox News staff to get reactions to the news. At least one Fox staffer was visibly distraught by the news.

"No, you can’t talk to anybody from Fox News," a security guard told gathered reporters.

But former Fox News anchor and current Fox News contributor Brit Hume, anchor Greta Van Susteren, anchor Chris Wallace and Baier addressed the reporters who had gathered there.

Baier, when asked whether he was among the Fox News talent that had a "key man clause," which would allow him to leave Fox News Channel if Ailes does, responded "Yeah, I am."

“I can’t speak for anyone else. I know a number of people have things in their contracts that are whatever they’re called — key man clauses or something. I can’t speak for anyone else.”

"I’m really happy at Fox, and as long as, you know, things are going like they’re going, I think I couldn’t be happier,” Baier added. "I don’t think it’s going to change much from my perspective as what I do every day. I think a lot of what we do on the news side is bottom up and it’s always been that way. I’m betting that Rupert is going to continue with that same process.”

Indeed, the surprise move of naming Rupert Murdoch himself captain of the ship, at least temporarily, appeared to have been important to many among Fox's top talent in Cleveland covering the convention this week.

"I will tell you, it was quite inspiring to all of us that Rupert Murdoch flew back and he’s taking over the helm and he made everyone feel really good. He’s not changing anything," Van Susteren told reporters. "Change is always tough, but I think Rupert Murdoch coming back was a big deal for all of us."

Wallace told reporters he thought Murdoch’s taking of the mantle was a sign that stability would reign at the network.

“I think you might have wondered about that if it had been any other successor than Rupert,” he said, “but I think the fact that the guy who came up with the idea for Fox News along with Roger is now taking the helm ensures that it’ll stay on its present course.”

Ailes began his national media career as executive producer of the syndicated talk show “The Mike Douglas Show.” He subsequently entered the world of politics, becoming a critical adviser to President Richard Nixon and, later, George H.W. Bush. After leaving politics, he helped NBC launch the financial news channel CNBC, and later the channel America’s Talking, the first cable talk channel. “America’s Talking” was a predecessor of sorts to both Fox News and, more directly, MSNBC, which took over its channel space in 1996.

In 1996, Ailes launched Fox News for Murdoch’s News Corp. Fox News surpassed CNN in the ratings in 2002 and never really looked back. Ailes assumed control of the Fox TV stations group in 2005, giving him oversight of the company’s owned and operated TV stations. In 2007, Ailes launched his second cable business-news channel, Fox Business Network.

With Ailes’ departure, the big question on the lips of most everyone in the TV news business is: What happens next? Will any of FNC’s big-name stars leave? And can the channel hold onto its seat atop the cable news landscape, or will CNN continue its ratings comeback?

Peter Sterne, Kelsey Sutton and Nick Lindseth contributed to this report.



Hadas Gold is a reporter at Politico.