Fox News website beefs up and 'goes a little Breitbart'
As competition surges on the right, Fox’s website increasingly follows the path of its prime-time hosts.
By JASON SCHWARTZ 12/23/2017 07:04 AM EST
A sleeping media giant may be about to wake up: Fox News’ website — known for its high traffic, but not strong identity —is staffing up and sharpening its voice in hopes of equaling the impact of its increasingly pro-Trump television partner.
A website that had been more closely identified with Shepard Smith’s brand of reporting has now moved closer to the mold of Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingraham, according to former staff members. “The approach has gone much more the way the prime-time programming works,” said one, “where it feels more agenda or opinion driven, or combative.”
According to Noah Kotch, who took over six months ago as Fox News digital editor in chief and vice president, his staff has grown to more than 100 full-time staffers, an increase of about 45 percent in the past year. The ramp-up signals that digital is now a major priority for Rupert Murdoch’s news outlet, Kotch said, adding that there is an increased focus on collaboration with TV.
“The digital side of Fox, they weren’t investing as much for many, many years, I think that’s widely known,” Kotch said. “We’re finally staffing up, we’re getting all the resources that we really need to be competitive, which we didn’t have before.”
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https://www.politico.com/story/2017/12/23/fox-news-website-breitbart-312326
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