The Fox cable channel network has been undergoing some substantial changes and negative publicity in the recent times. In the last year alone the channel has lost several key executives to sexual harassment claims and more recently to suits alleging racial discrimination within the company.
On Monday, Co-President Bill Shine announced that he was leaving the Fox News team. Shine, who has been part of Fox going on twenty years, resigned mere weeks after the resignation of his predecessor Roger Ailes. Ailes left the network after losing out on a sexual harassment suit filed by a former employee that led to the company paying out $20 million in settlement fees. Ailes was in charge of the programming side of the network company and was succeeded by Shine upon his leaving the post.
Billy Shine’s pronouncement of leaving the network was shadowed by claims that he had known of the allegedly improper actions of his predecessor. Speculation within the company suggests that Shine had either done nothing about the situation or that he had participated in the cover-up. The Fox News management did not confirm or refute these claims but merely stated that the renowned ‘Fox Man’ would be missed upon his departure. On the other hand, Fox star Sean Hannity, one of the closest co-workers Shine had in his twenty-year Fox tenure, vehemently defended Shine against the allegations. “Someone way up [in Fox] is trying to get an innocent man fired,” Hannity said. Hannity also opined that Shine’s departure from Fox News would mark the termination of the cable network channel.
Rumors that Hannity would leave the network as well were rife amid Shine’s resignation. Hannity denied these claims in a tweet. Many still wait to see whether he will take advantage of the loophole in his contract that will allow him to leave the channel.
Employees within Fox have been watching these progressive changes within the cable network with ambivalent attitudes. Some, such as Suzanne Scoot, welcome the change. Scott was Shine’s deputy, and she was named Co-President of Programming after his resignation. Jay Wallace was also awarded an executive post while Jack Abernathy, who had been the Co-President with Shine, retained his post. Abernathy ran the business side of the cable network business.
Other employees who were loyal to Ailes and Shine are not faring well amid the chaotic period for the company. Many of them are worried that the resignations are precursors to a massive housecleaning by Fox News stations. Some workers further suggest that Lachlan and James Murdoch, the owners of the parent company 21st Century Fox, are preparing the company to head toward more conservative policies. The rise of stars like Tomi Lahren seems to augment that theory.
The future of Fox News remains uncertain due to the numerous exits of the company’s top executives. Coupled with the many suits and allegations against Fox, these exits portray an unconducive working environment for the media magnate. The next few weeks will see that the company recovers from these mishaps and learns from them or goes further downhill because of them.
