Rolling Stone Chronicles Roger Ailes and FOX "News"

Image from excerpt source, Rolling Stone

And it ain't pretty. A week or so after New York Magazine delved into the genesis of FOX "News," and the main man behind it--Roger Ailes, not owner, Rupert Murdoch--Rolling Stone has an in-depth piece that is bound to tick you off. If you have a built-in revulsion for FOX "News" and/or Ailes, this article will give you even more (many more) tangible reasons to feel that way. And if you're a tea baggin', Sarah Palin lovin', Rush listenin' FOX fan, you'll be pissed for one of two reasons: 1) you've been had, or 2) you'll think the author, Tim Dickinson is a dirty, stinkin' socialist Obamabot!!11!1!!

But this article is thorough. Unlike the NYMag piece, this one names names. It has more sources. It has more detail of Ailes' past (past Ailes projects include the Nixon campaign stagecraft, The Maury Povich Show, The Rush Limbaugh Show on TV, A Current Affair, and the Willie Horton racist ploy). It points out that FOX "News" was born as a right-wing infused news channel, in fact was bred to be one.  It was in fact Ailes' second go at that sort of thing. Both even had "fair and balanced" as their motto. With FOX, he just managed to keep the bias--somehow--halfway under wraps. Like details about Ailes' late friend Liberace, there are things people know, that for some reason aren't openly discussed.

There is no doubt that the author of this piece has no love for Ailes or his tactics. I'm not sure that it would be possible, if you were discovering all of this stuff fresh and never heard of Ailes or FOX "News." It's pretty contemptible stuff. It's basically turning news into propaganda--on purpose--to strongly influence elections and policy, for the enrichment of corporate elites. It's an ends-justify-the-means story, where the ends are just as morally dubious as the means. It shows the man behind the curtain to be every bit as vile as you think he is. It explains what Karl Rove is doing at FOX "News." And the few FOX fans who will actually read this thing will likely not recognize this. They'll read the list of things that Fox watchers erroneously believe, and will have already been preconditioned to think those things are correct.

When the history of this era of America is written, I have a feeling that Roger Ailes will figure into the narrative, along with the Citizens United Supreme Court decision as a time when America changed direction drastically, from a democracy to a corporatocracy. Or, more hopefully, when it almost did.

[Excerpt]

How Roger Ailes Built the Fox News Fear Factory

. . .The key to decoding Fox News isn’t Bill O’Reilly or Sean Hannity. It isn’t even News Corp. chief Rupert Murdoch. To understand what drives Fox News, and what its true purpose is, you must first understand Chairman Ailes. “He is Fox News,” says Jane Hall, a decade-long Fox commentator who defected over Ailes’ embrace of the fear-mongering Glenn Beck. “It’s his vision. It’s a reflection of him. . .”

Read (much) more at: Rolling Stone