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The End of Fox News?
With the news today that not only will 21st Century Fox be shelling out $20 million to Gretchen Carlson, but that Greta Van Susteren will be giving up her show immediately in favor of Brit Hume, one wonders how many days it will take for the whole of the network to implode.
What this portends for conservative media in the short- and long-term remains to be seen though it looks like this particular 20-year reign is over.
As the lurid and disgusting details come out, the question that needs to be asked: can the conservative movement, which makes all kinds of claims concerning morality and proper values, continue to support an organization that not only supported Ailes’ profligacy, but shunned those who sought to shine light on the problem.
Is this really something conservatives should remain in league with?
Published in Entertainment
Gee, Gretch – thanks for standing up to empower women everywhere with the complaint you filed after
your career stalledyou were harassed at Fox! We really appreciate your courageous stance!To prove you did it to empower women, maybe you could donate that money to some fund that stands up for women who don’t have your resources and position to fight harassment! Just a thought!
Keep Bret et al, Britt, Chris and Greg. Dump the rest, including the awful morning shows. Put the Ricochet podcast lineup on for the rest of primetime.
When Fox News allowed one of its prime-time programs to become an infomercial for Trump, they became as bad as More Socialism Now Bullmess Channel. And that show with four overcaffeinated right-wingers screaming at one lefty is like fingernails on a chalkboard. In fact, that whole “I’m all hopped up on coffee and trucker pills!” style of delivery that’s the Fox News trademark of O’Reilly, Hannity, that Judge Jeanine lady, and so on – it’s gotta stop. One: That’s a radio style; I don’t want that on my television. Two: That’s a radio style from twenty years ago; please come into the twenty-first century. Sadly, what gets the most eyeballs – and hence the most ad dollars – is what will get the air time, so I expect weirdos shouting the craziest stuff will continue to get the prime-time slots. But for the long-term good, the best thing Fox News can do with Trump fanboy numero uno Sean Hannity is put him in a nice 3 A.M. slot on the in-house closed-circuit security television system until his contract runs out.
Try Fox Litigation. It’s good for what Ailes you.
Have watched little of FNC of late. Too many Flavor-Ade swilling Trumpkins, too generally depressing a news cycle.
Carlson’s lawsuit means little to me. It was settled. We’ll never know the truth. This could have been “we’re sorry please be quiet” money or “shut up and go away” money. Doesn’t matter. She was never the reason I watched, and the man she sued over is gone. It is, to me, a non-issue, and I don’t see why this should impact what’s on screen.
As for Greta? Meh. I liked her okay, but she was someone that ended up on my tv because I didn’t change the channel when she came on. She rarely drove me away, nor compelled me to stay. He departure was likely a bad move on her part, stemming from a contractual out when Ailes left. I don’t think she had the leverage she believed she did.
I for one am very happy to see Mr. Hume at any time, restraining order be damned. I’m curious how and why he chose to come out of semi-retirement, and if this will last beyond November. As far as I’m concerned this is a big improvement, and likely to get me to tune in more.
From CNN News: “Trump refuses to rule out legal status for undocumented immigrants”
Trump now seems to be fine and dandy with amnesty, so looking over the rest of Trump’s big government, anti-trade, unilateral disarmament, pro-abortion positions, I’d say Trumpkins already have their own channel: It’s called MSNBC.
I gave up on Foxnews about 8 years ago when I got rid of my satellite dish. I have more recently stopped visiting their website more than once a day. I find it less than edifying. Tim Grosclose (Sp) rated Fox as being left of center some time ago. Their unbridled support for Trump kind of pushed them off the charts for me. My only knowledge of Gretchen Carlson is based on the occasional news clip shown on YouTube in which she is the interviewer. I was never particularly impressed either with her delivery or her looks, definitely not eye-candy in the vein of some of their others. Greta Van Susteren was, to my way of thinking, a much more serious news person, not having to rely on looks which she doesn’t have to be taken seriously. As to the Roger Ailes thing, I find it particularly disingenuous that all of these attacks on his sexual harassment have occurred after the claimant was either fired or quit the network. If it was that bad, why wasn’t it made an issue much earlier? Ailes is obviously a predator. If the place was as bad as some have said, why did they not make an issue out of it immediately? Too much money is my guess. Don’t attack the goose of golden eggs fame. Sort of sounds a bit like prostitution to me. Just saying.
I think after all the crap Murdoch endured in the latest UK lawsuits, he just wanted it to go away and was willing to pay the bux to do so. I’m betting the $20M is over a few years, so it’s not much of a dent in his cash flow to get the gravy train going again.
This was a business decision by Murdoch, not a political one. period.
I remember before the O. J. Simpson trial (and Greta Van Susteren 1.0) and Bill Clinton when CNN was at least a little bit conservative just because they were based in Atlanta instead of the Northeast like the other networks with Bob Novak hosting three different political shows.
Let Fox News Business be in New York. However, I doubt Fox News would ever leave New York.
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Television news is a visual media. There is no reason to watch it very much unless there is a visual reason such as a war, natural disaster, etc.
Agree. Although the payment, however it is structured, came with a major, and very public, apology from Fox towards Carlson. This was not one of those ‘no harm, no foul’ settlements.
Frankly, I’d like to see one of these women skip the money and take it to court. That decision was not in Murdoch’s hands, it was in Carlson’s.
Whatever the outcome, I hope they keep Red-eye intact as configured.
Only watch FNC occasionally these days, but in my view Brit Hume is a good reporter, so as a successor to Greta that will be an improvement.
Greta was best on legal stories, unraveling the b.s. in allegations of police brutality, and the myriad wrong takes on self defense in other stories, but she was always weak on politics. I think she is not only personally a liberal (married IIRC to a high profile “ambulance chaser” type lawyer, and I mean that in the nicest possible way), but also a little “off” in the way only Scientologists can be.
Too bad they can’t bring back Tony Snow.
And Hannity? What a joke. His basic question to his guest is always the same self-referring: “what do you think of what I think? This is what I think [. . .blah blah blah] Agree or disagree?””
Is that Claire’s apartment? She failed to mention the tortoise.
That literally would be a miracle – at least if you are not speaking of the undead variety.
I think they should move the whole division to LA and give primetime slots to Crowder, Klavan, and Shapiro. Get rid of O’Reilly and Hannity, but keep Gutfeld, Watters, and Megan Kelly (need a little eye candy around).
It is nonsensical to clean house.
If you were going to do that, why do it with FNC? Why not just start a network (or buy one that’s cheaper than FNC)?
Separate drinking fountains too!
You never know what a cat might drag in…
Greta gets kudos as a businesswoman.
She did not get by on her looks.
She got by via a combination of holding her leftist tendencies and ego in check and good guest booking. She brilliantly nurtured a relationship with Rush and some lesser guests that kept her on the screen against the odds.
I like Britt Hume, but then I’m in my 60s. If FNC doesn’t find someone else as his understudy and find nem fast, their audience will be dying off and not renewing itself.
CNN is doing a much better job for the first time in years. Anderson Cooper and Chris Cuomo are strong.
I don’t watch Fox, so I don’t really have a dog in this fight. However, the other women didn’t speak out until Gretchen did, so it looks like she did provide a service.
I suppose I should break out the 6-string and sing “Michael Row the Boat Ashore,” but this seems like a step down the road to Perdition, Mrs. Grundy’s Academy for Precious Snowflakes, or the Italian parliament (all the same place). I could do without sock puppets of any persuasion and their contumacious, fractious, and truculent* sabe-lo-todo talk-over hosts and enablers, but you eventually find yourself in a room alone if you restrict the company you keep to people who see the world exactly as you do. The room is padded.
As for 6 (freaking) hours of FNC, that reminds me of a story a friend told about the wisdom of kindly old family doctors long ago. The friend at 17 went to the doc complaining of pains in the crotchal region. “Do you have sex, Jimmy?” he asked. “Yes,” my friend replied. “How often?” “Four or five times a day.” “Well now, that might have something to do with the problem, my boy.”
*h/t SAT prep. Took 45 years, but I got all those guys into the same sentence.
Unfortunately Fox News and it’s opinion programming is New York centered. The center of the of the universe is either Washington DC, or Manhattan. I quit watching on a regular basis quite awhile ago.
What are “Trumpkins”?
Is it some vegetable hybrid? Is it a slur?
I know Trump supporters, I know #Never Trump, but I do not know anybody who identifies as one of those.
Are you one of those Alt-Never dangerous folks we hear about?
Amen. Hannity is so annoying that I’d rather watch Alan Colmes.
And back of the bus! You can be the new Rosa Parks!
Why is it needed at all? Why do people waste their time watching television airheads when there are more interesting ways to spend their time?