Forums / Discussion / General

Atlantic article

Under his guidance, FOX became America's most powerful news media empire. How will he be remembered, KYM?

I don't know how he'll be remembered in general, but this is what I'll remember him for:

Murdoch installed ailes in the corner office on Fox’s second floor at 1211 Avenue of the Americas in Manhattan. The location made Ailes queasy: It was close to the street, and he lived in fear that gay activists would try to attack him in retaliation over his hostility to gay rights. (In 1989, Ailes had broken up a protest of a Rudy Giuliani speech by gay activists, grabbing demonstrator by the throat and shoving him out the door.) Barricading himself behind a massive mahogany desk, Ailes insisted on having “bombproof glass” installed in the windows – even going so far as to personally inspect samples of high-tech plexiglass, as though he were picking out new carpet. Looking down on the street below, he expressed his fears to Cooper, the editor he had tasked with up-armoring his office. “They’ll be down there protesting,” Ailes said. “Those gays.”

(Source)

I have mixed feelings. On one hand, the creation of Fox News was vitally important to establishing news media outside the left-controlled old guard, even if it has recently become little more than a Trump puppet. On the other, it sounds like Ailes set up an environment of blatant sexism behind the scenes and those sexual harassment allegations are hard to overlook. The best way I can put it is he certainly was a successful businessman and influential media figure.

Ailes also founded what would become MSNBC, which was first known as "America's Talking." He founded two of the three major US cables news networks.

Setting aside politics and any personal failings, he revolutionized cable news and all the positive/negatives associated with that industry.