The point about Roger Ailes – the departed boss of Fox News with the allegedly wandering hands – is that he’s more like a tabloid newspaper editor than a TV controller. He created much of the modern Republican party. He created Fox News and he created profitability: the channel’s £750m profit is roughly a fifth of the 21st Century Fox fortune that keeps the family Murdoch, and sons James and Lachlan, as shareholder favourites.
Of course there’s fraternal rejoicing. Ailes has been tetchy and truculent for years, saved only by his amazing success and his power to make Rupert Murdoch think again whenever a putsch started to brew. But now the moment has finally arrived. Ailes was a monster, TV’s ogre-in-chief, but his singular vision brought riches. He was tolerated because he was worth it.
So what now for something as idiosyncratic as Fox? Stock solutions won’t do the trick. Nor, I guess, will Rupert (85) as interim chairman. The brothers M need another Ailes – one who can tackle the dying light of an ageing audience. Remember the Bun fight after Kelvin MacKenzie and prepare for a time of rare 21st century test.
Political pants on fire
“Good news is Melania’s speech got more publicity than any in the history of politics especially if you believe that all press is good press!” tweeted Donald Trump after his wife’s derivative address. It’s one to file away. When Brexiters pledged £350m to the NHS, we were told it was a hapless, not deliberate, lie. When Trump supporters say 350,000 illegal immigrants cross the border, that turns out phoney too. Can we still credit that whoppers are now part of politics, that news outlets that transmit the fibs are playing the liar’s game? Alas, “all press is good press”: the wisdom of Trump.
