In truth I'm torn between my cynicism toward this politically conservative assertion of capitalism, and actual, genuine market demand. That is, overall market demand might prescribe moderation, but part of the point seems to be to fleece a particular market; Donald Trump appears to be making a similar gamble―if the numbers on iHeartRadio and Sirius XM weren't so bad, I would expect him to move from television host to media mogul proper. Some say SXM's debt is manageable in the ten year-outlook, but iHR is running over twenty billion in the red; neither make an attractive purchase prospect, but who knows, maybe Trump can strike a deal. The bottom line is that I actually expect the FOX News arc to follow its gutter arc. Odds are, it's about to get even worse. • An (ahem!) "artist" creates a market phenomenon. With twenty years of market data on the phenomenon, we might expect the business version of a technocrat to dissect and exploit the phenomenon as a successor to the (cough!) "artist". But what does that actually mean? If the technocrat is ideologically predisposed, it usually means further descent into the phenomenon―i.e., in FNC's case, madness. The question to me is how long FOX News can keep it up before the market sector is tapped. That's a difficult question given raw sector growth potential; the fiscal empowerment of the sector might not come to bear in the projections for another couple decades. • e.g., At what point will conservative self-imposed isolation affect the next generation to the point that yes, society finally must ride to the rescue of its former empowerment majority? Just like men so badly want to pretend they are oppressed like women, or whites pretend they have it worse than blacks, what happens when conservative idealogues are so isolated that their children are graduating inferior schools and finding limited economic prospects, essentially praying and politicking themselves into poverty and deprivation? FNC? Donald Trump? The Republican nominee is emblematic of the conservative business values people have been slowly turning against for twenty years. Those old values say, squeeze the sector until the ROI falls below blood from stones. What happens to them afterward, traditionally, is not a concern of the business sector. (And if the self-imposed destruction of a demographic sector sounds extreme, it's worth considering what actually happens if we give conservatives what they want↗.)
I think Ailes's departure will result in a less partisanship and less anti-journalism on the longer term. I wouldn't expect it overnight. But it has to change. It is already changing. Fox News is losing viewers. That's why CNN is doing so well. Fox and its allies in Republican talk radio have pushed conservatism to the brink, and I think that fact is not lost on Murdoch's children.
So, it appears that the culture of corruption runs deeper than Ailes. Gabriel Sherman, National Affairs editor at New York Magazine, the one who broke story, now says there was a conspiracy at Fox to cover up Aile's behavior; the women were forced to sign non-disclosure agreements to prevent them from talking about Ailes, and the abuse was rampant. In short, it appears that the right wing propaganda channel, Republican Central, was a "highly toxic environment for women". You can imagine my shock and horror!!! Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! There is talk of ousting much of the senior staff at Fox.
That's true, when you find corruption at the top it rarely is isolated to just the top. There's generally a culture of corruption which saturates the entire organization. So this may very well not be the end of the story. We will likely see others purged from Fox News in the coming weeks and months. The Fox News organization will need to be rebuilt and it will be interesting to see how the Murdochs rebuild the organization. Do they replace Ailes with an insider, and if so who? Can they find someone untainted by this scandal to replace Ailes within the Fox News enterprise or do they go outside? And if they go outside who do they replace him with, do they another Republican partisan activist from Brietbart or Newsmax? Ailes's replacement will tell us much about where the Murdochs want to go with Fox News. And what impact will the cleanup of Fox News have on Fox News operations? This couldn't happen at a worst time for the Republican Party. Now, during the final months of the race, Fox News is partially offline. That certainly isn't good news for Republicans. How many more women will come out in the coming months? How much will the settlements cost Fox News? As of this writing, I understand 25 women have come out. I doubt Fox News consumers will care much about this scandal, but Fox News stockholders won't be very impressed when they get the bill for these settlements.
I suspect this will jolt a lot of women, and especially younger women who think of themselves as Republicans and buy into the Fox hyperbole, back to reality. Ailes pulled a [metaphorical] Cosby on them. Maybe the Murdochs will opt to put a woman in charge. Wouldn't that be interesting! But is that even possible? I guess it depends on whether the stink goes all the way to the top. One would reasonably expect that it does.
Now that this has come to light, the reputation of every woman who works or has worked for Fox News has been called into question. People wonder what these women did to get their position. Where they victims of Ailes's casting couch too? Did they succumb to Ailes's sexual advances and propositions? Fox has many attractive women working for the company. Ailes certainly had target rich environment in which to exercise his depravities. It's sad for all the women who work for or have worked for Fox News.
Should this really come as a surprise to these women? I assumed they all got their jobs by performing sexual favors in the interview room, except ann coultier shes just too damn ugly. They make them all wear skirts and all the desks the sit at are see through.
Well, it is still early. But thus far, there is no evidence of any change over at Fox News. Fox selectively edited portions of the Democratic Convention. Fox didn't want its viewers to see Mr. Khan and his wife or General Allen's speech and it didn't show its viewers their speeches. So thus far, no change. It's the same old Fox News. http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2016/07/4-star-general-opens-can-whup-ass-donald-trump
Isn't that ironic, the party propagating fears of government conspiracies, government spying and secret concentration camps, is actually surveying its "enemies". Fox News has been projecting its own insecurities onto the free press.
Now it has been reported there are sex tapes, recordings of Ailes in the act. Well, now that puts a different spin on the matter. That would explains why Vanity Fair reports settlement talks are underway. If these cases go to trial those tapes will come out. If all parties settle, the alleged sex tapes will never see the light of day. I also find it interesting that Fox is participating in the settlement talks even thought Fox hasn't been sued. Only Ailes has been sued.
