FNC

A private investigator who was put at the center of a controversial report on the death of a murdered Democratic National Committee operative is alleging he was placed there against his will by employees of Fox News Channel.

Fox ran a full-page advertisement in The New York Times on Thursday, blurbing a recent review that called the Fox & Friends morning show “the most powerful TV show in America.” Television critic James Poniewozik’s review wasn’t exactly complimentary, as it traced the show’s close relationship with the nation’s tweeter-in-chief, President Donald Trump.

When Roger Ailes resigned from Fox News one year ago, critics questioned whether the network could stay dominant without its visionary founder. One year later, Fox News remains the most-watched network on cable news and one of the most powerful forces in American politics.

James Poniewozik: “Fox & Friends, the three-hour wake-up program on Fox News, is an interactive magic mirror for Donald J. Trump. He is the show’s subject, its programmer, its publicist and its virtual fourth host. The stars offer him flattery, encouragement and advice. When he tweets, his words and image appear on a giant video wall. It’s the illusion of children’s TV — that your favorite show is as aware of you as you are of it — except that for Mr. Trump, it’s real.”

Fox News lost its founding CEO and its top-rated TV personality amid sexual harassment allegations and an advertiser boycott. It gained Marianne Gambelli, a well-known and respected career ad exec who is a symbol of the organization’s efforts to publicly rebrand. She started at Fox News on May 22, some four weeks after the network split with Bill O’Reilly amid an advertiser revolt and four days after Ailes died at home. Where others see a vulnerable company beset by controversy, Gambelli describes a new era coming at Fox News — one ripe for collaborations and experimental ad units.

With Bill O’Reilly out, Fox News had to reshuffle its decks — and fast. The network hasn’t missed a beat, continuing its 15-year run atop all direct competitors. And its reach is growing: Fox News been the most-watched network among all of basic cable for four consecutive quarters. A good portion of that success is due to the smooth launch of Fox News Specialists, a new show geared to a younger audience co-hosted by Eric Bolling, Katherine Timpf and Eboni K. Williams.

The New York State Division of Human Rights is investigating Fox News for allegations of sexual harassment and discrimination, according to attorney Lisa Bloom.

As Fox News moves further into the post–Roger Ailes era, the network is shedding one of its most iconic elements. According to network executives, Fox News has abandoned the marketing slogan “Fair & Balanced.” Fox executives have been instructed by management to market the network by its other tagline: “Most Watched. Most Trusted.”

Fox News Channel said it promoted six executives — many of whom have been involved with producing shows in the cable news outlet’s primetime lineup — to new programming roles, all reporting directly to Suzanne Scott, president of programming for the 21st Century Fox-owned cable network.

Rupert Murdoch and his sons could be doing the right thing, or simply trying to expand their media empire

NEW YORK (AP) — Fox News Channel has asked a federal court to throw out a lawsuit by former anchor Andrea Tantaros, saying her claims that “sock puppet” Twitter accounts […]

Fox News today retracted a story regarding the 2016 killing of Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich after massive outcry over sharing conspiracy theories about the murder. “On May 16, a story was posted on the Fox News website on the investigation into the 2016 murder of DNC Staffer Seth Rich,” the retraction reads. “The article was not initially subjected to the high degree of editorial scrutiny we require for all our reporting Upon appropriate review, the article was found not to meet those standards and has since been removed.”

Fox News Channel is parting ways — again — with Bob Beckel, the co-host of its primetime program, The Five. “Bob Beckel was terminated today for making an insensitive remark to an African-American employee,” the network said in a statement.

A former GOP operative to candidates including Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, Ailes later turned his media savvy to running TV networks. In early 1996 he accepted a challenge from media titan Rupert Murdoch to build a news network from scratch to compete with CNN.

The conspiracy-choked story of Seth Rich’s killing has made a sudden comeback thanks to Fox News, but the latest reporting seems to have generated more controversy than credibility. Rich’s family is demanding a retraction from Fox for airing unsubstantiated claims about the Democratic National Committee staffer, whose death last year generated a wild river of theories and innuendo about who was behind it.

Fox News Channel unveiled plans for a new centralized studio as well as the hiring of additional journalists and content creators, a sign the 21st Century Fox-owned outlet is working to move forward after several weeks of tumult. During a company-wide address to staffers Wednesday, 21st Century Fox Executive Chairman Rupert Murdoch described plans for a centralized newsroom slated for completion in 2018. The new facility will be designed to spark communication among employer teams devoted to programming, news and digital.

NEW YORK (AP) — With President Donald Trump’s firing of FBI Director James Comey the week’s big story, MSNBC had one of its best ratings weeks in memory – perhaps […]

The harassment scandals at Fox News have the potential to create legal problems up and down the corporate ladder, as attorneys attempt to show a culture of indifference to the complaints of female employees. Attorneys for 21st Century Fox are attempting to limit the damage, arguing in a legal brief filed Monday that the issues at Fox News cannot be used to sue Fox’s owned-and-operated stations.

The metastasizing Ailes affair is spilling over into the politics of New York, Virginia and the White House.

Marianne Gambelli, the former longtime head of ad sales for the NBC broadcast network, was named president of ad sales for Fox News Channel and Fox Business Network. She will start her new duties on May 22.

Prosecutors have taken testimony from several witnesses, including Laurie Luhn, about her severance package and how it was recorded on Fox’s books

The Wall Street Journal reports that federal authorities have interviewed current and former Fox News employees and on-air talent in a widening inquiry into the nature of sexual-harassment settlements and alleged intimidation tactics at the network, according to people familiar with the probe. WSJ subscribers can read the full story here.

After a personnel upheaval, the Fox News Channel’s new evening lineup is not so much pro-Trump as it is anti-anti-Trump.

The continued presence of other executives implicated in stories about harassment, discrimination and intimidation complicate Fox’s ability to change its culture, both in practice and public perception. One of those executives was promoted with Fox’s announcement Monday that Bill Shine, Fox’s co-president since founding CEO Roger Ailes was ousted last summer, had resigned.