FOX News seems to be in total collapse?

[kentuck]

They have fired their co-President, Bill Shine, today. He had been with them for 20 years. There are rumors that Hannity may resign by the week's end? As the propaganda arm of the Republican Party, they are collapsing before our eyes.

http://www.salon.com/2017/05/01/fox-news-has-fired-co-president-bill-shine-former-top-aide-to-roger-ailes/

<snip>
Fox News announced Shine’s resignation in a statement sent to journalists shortly after 2:45 p.m. ET. :

“Bill Shine, Co-President of FOX News Channel (FNC) since August 2016, has resigned and will leave the company after helping the transition over the next few weeks, announced Rupert Murdoch, Executive Chairman of 21st Century Fox. Shine has been with FOX News since its inception over 20 years ago.”

According to sources, there had been widespread speculation within Fox News that Shine was going to be fired last year along with the channel’s founding CEO Roger Ailes, after he was accused of engaging in sexual harassment of female subordinates and even blackmailing one into performing oral sex on him for 20 years.

As the former vice president of talent, Shine was regarded by many employees as “Roger’s bag man,” the person charged with covering up internal controversies within the company. Shine rose to that post after serving as the producer for “Hannity & Colmes,” where he earned the trust and admiration of Sean Hannity, who is now Fox News’ sole remnant of the lineup that Ailes created that propelled the channel to dominance of the cable news market.

....more at link

[Sculpin Beauregard]

1. I hope they salt the earth and do an exorcism on the site.

Misogynist, racist fucks. They make the world a worse place.

[TheBlackAdder]

16. +1,574,384 Don't forget purification by fire.

[iluvtennis]

17. +++ agree

[FiveGoodMen]

2. If so, it has served its purpose

America seems to be in total collapse now, too.

[kentuck]

3. Do you think it is too late to save our country??

What is the solution? What is the answer?

[Sculpin Beauregard]

6. No. Protest, call your reps, make your voice heard!

[FiveGoodMen]

7. Too many 'Murkins favor Trump and the GOP even now

I'm pretty sure that many would change their minds if they saw how all of this was damaging THEM.

But their preachers, the MSM, hate radio, etc. keep them ignorant and blaming anyone but the guilty.

Two things might help (in the long run -- if there's still time for a long run):

1) The return of the Fairness Doctrine so that one side couldn't just bombard the average listener with so many lies and slanted half-truths that there's not even time to look into each one, and ...

2) Lying in a material way to influence people's rights should be a crime. Of course it would have to be proven; of course that would be difficult, but if the final result was that liars had to worry about spending years in a Trump-colored jumpsuit, they might not spend all day, every day throwing crap at the wall just to see what would stick.

From the responses I've gotten at this very site when mentioning these idea before, I don't expect the left to even attempt #1 or #2.

So, I can't imaging anything that's going to save us.

[kentuck]

12. The demise of FOX News is good news?

Does it show a weakness in the entire Republican Party?

[FiveGoodMen]

19. It is potentially good news.

But it's not as if the malice behind it has evaporated.

The MSM, hate-radio, and mega-churches can still continue the onslaught.

And remember, a whole bunch of Trump voters are still happy with their decision.

[Initech]

34. #2 would be a gigantic violation of the 1st amendment.

Last I checked, lying is still free speech.

[FiveGoodMen]

36. You are exactly what I was talking about.

Be as smug as you like, but we will lose because of your attitude.

[Initech]

38. So you support ending the 1st amendment then?

Keep fighting that battle, you will not win.

[FiveGoodMen]

43. You can't lie under oath

You can't yell "FIRE!" in a theater.

So, if you think it's absolute, it's not.

Quote me the part of the 1st that says lying is protected.

[Initech]

44. Any attempt to curb speech on either side will be seen as an act of war.

Because the first amendment says that the government cannot regulate speech. Once the government starts regulating speech, it's over. Doesn't matter which side you are on. If you curb speech for any reason, it affects both sides, liberal and conservative. I don't agree with Trump's constant lying either. I don't agree with AM hate radio's constant slander of liberals. But I'm not going to advocate for legislation saying they can't do those things.

[FiveGoodMen]

49. Huh

The First Amendment bars Congress from "abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press…." U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens commented about this phraseology in a 1993 journal article: "I emphasize the word 'the' in the term 'the freedom of speech' because the definite article suggests that the draftsmen intended to immunize a previously identified category or subset of speech." Stevens said that, otherwise, the clause might absurdly immunize things like false testimony under oath.

(emphasis mine)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution

So, the point is that lying under the right circumstances is NOT protected. That would be "absurd" in Stevens' words.

All I'm suggesting is that people who represent our government, or report on them, be held to the same standards as someone testifying under oath.

[marybourg]

46. Actually, you can yell "Fire"

in a theater, as long as it's actually on fire. What you can't do is yell "fire" falsely - when there's no fire - because the danger of causing injury or death, with no real danger - overrides the protection of the 1st Amendment.

[FiveGoodMen]

47. So, in other words, it's lying that's illegal?

[marybourg]

68. No. Lying is not illegal.

But -- making an utterance that endangers life and limb without a clear public good is not protected speech under the First Amendment.

That complex 4 part rule is succinctly encapsulated by the phrase, first enunciated by the Supreme Court, as "Falsely shouting "Fire" in a crowded theater".

[FiveGoodMen]

69. The lies Dubya told took an awful lot of lives

Wouldn't they fit under "making an utterance that endangers life and limb without a clear public good"?

[Skittles]

48. you can yell FIRE in a theater

you cannot FALSELY yell FIRE

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

54. You can yell FIRE if you fall into a vat of chocolate

[roscoeroscoe]

53. sad but true

Sometimes I imagine the Bureau of B.S., who would stop politicians in mid-speech to haul them off if they were really slinging the b.s.

Or, God striking them with lighting. That would be acceptable as well.

By the way, Five Good Men? The starting Houston Rockets With Hakeem?

[FiveGoodMen]

63. No, it's actually the Five Good Men that might have saved Sodom from destruction

except that they couldn't be found.

(the exact number is debatable but I took it from Toy Matinee's reference in Last Plane Out:
There's one repressed do-gooder
And a few who still believe
I think there were Five Good Men here yesterday
But they were asked to leave)

[Eliot Rosewater]

8. The truth is yes, but I will still fight as though it is no. What else is there to do anyway,

watch American Idol?

Have to fill your day somehow, I will fill mine protesting these horrible and disgusting deplorable assholes.

[tanyev]

4. I still have my election night champagne in the fridge. Hmm....

[kentuck]

5. It's difficult not to want to celebrate.

[Laffy Kat]

28. Me, too. Saving it for first woman president. nt

[tavernier]

64. Hey, me too!!

And it will taste deeeeeliscious when bubble butt waddles into prison!

[Cooley Hurd]

9. It certainly seems to be imploding.

Word is the Murdoch kids want to re-shape it into something more like CNN:

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2017/05/01/sean-hannity-eyes-fox-news-exit-insiders-say

<snip>

But to some Fox News conservative vets like Hannity, Shine was the remaining bulwark against the Murdoch sons, who are seen as “liberals” trying to radically reinvent the network in the model of a mainstream cable-news rival like CNN.

</snip>

[JDC]

10. Not one mention on their www site. "Bill Shine" Search gets nothing

Cowards

[Freethinker65]

11. Trump is stealing their brand and making it his own

Trump will siphon off the ignorant rabid habitual viewers that were their core audience. That audience sees not much wrong with a bit of "locker room" sexual harassment, especially if the females are attractive. They voted for Trump partly because of it. They lost the "literate" National Review and American Spectator types that tuned in a while ago.

[onecaliberal]

13. That's a good thing, unless chump tries to start his own channel. I wouldn't put it past him.

[Skittles]

14. ...

[UTUSN]

15. You Bette Davis, you:

"Don't speak ill of the dead. Crawford is dead. Good."

[Skittles]

37. heh

I liked them both - if ever there were a couple of GRAND DAMES, it was those two

[ailsagirl]

18. They've done so much damage

[marked50]

20. Just; please, Please tell me they won't end up at MSNBC-n/t

[moonscape]

24. Indeed! Hey MSNBC: stop being FOX's panic room! n/t

[bucolic_frolic]

21. Mission Accomplished

Now that they got their moron in the White House, they are irrelevant

They air their dirty laundry and reorganize for 2018/20

They would have done this in 2012 if Romney had won

[yuiyoshida]

22. I hope Fox explodes and burns...

[colorado_ufo]

23. I think it's called, "Take the money and run!"

Trump is ruining whatever is left of the Repub party, and Fox News just lost its biggest money maker, whom they will not likely replace soon. Those millions in "golden parachute" payments are starting to look mighty good, when either a bankuptcy or total restructuring/revamping of the broadcasting lineup may loom on the horizon.

In other words, take the money while it's still there and you still have a job to get fired from.

[tenorly]

25. The contract with Satan has finally run out.

FOX, in numerology, stands for 6,6,6.

[Different Drummer]

35. Never thought about that before, but you're right.

The numerology connection, perhaps, explains a lot.

[tenorly]

41. At the very least, it suggests it was a deliberate choice on their part.

Murdoch, according to Ted Turner (who certainly knows him well), is "the most evil man I've ever met."

[ProfessorPlum]

58. Can you explain that please

Genuinely curious

[tenorly]

61. Sure.

Numerology, as the name implies, assigns a number - 1 to 9 - to each letter of the alphabet. These are easy to memorize because they're in order, and start over after the 9th letter in each series.

An A, say, would be 1, and an I would be 9; a J would be 1, and an R would be 9. Since Z is the 26th letter, it's an 8.

Numerologists believe that each number, in turn, colors each letter - and the person whose name includes them - with a certain characteristic. 1 suggests individualism; 2, partnership (or the need for it), and so on. 8, as you may have heard, is thought to be the most auspicious.

6 is not, in itself, thought to be "evil" in any way; on the contrary, it's thought to represent the home, work as a service, and care for others.

Why three sixes in a row is thought to be evil - besides it's being mentioned as such in the Book of Revelations - I'm not really sure. It may have to do with the dark side of the number, which for the number six is thought to be the concept of sacrifice - though not in a demonic way (although someone like Murdoch might definitely see it that way).

[ProfessorPlum]

62. Thanks but what I was asking is why fox would be 666

Sorry, if that was a joke, for my irony deficiency

[tenorly]

65. No sweat.

The letter F, in numerology, is assigned a 6 as it's the sixth letter in the alphabet. O is the 15th letter, and is also assigned a 6 because you start over after the 9th letter ('I').

The second set of letters thus ends at R, and you start over at S. The sixth letter from S is X, which makes it another 6.

The same applies to birthdates, by the way. Take the dd-mm-yyyy digits, add them up, and then add the two digits that remain (until you get a single digit). For example: Murdoch's is 03-11-1931 - which adds up to 19; 1+9=10 and 1+0=1. Murdoch's life path number is a 1.

And the dark side of 1, as you can imagine, is being a selfish, conceited bastard.

[ProfessorPlum]

67. thanks, I get it

F = 6
O = 15, 1+5 = 6 and
X = 24, 2 + 4 = 6


freaky.

[jmowreader]

26. There are propaganda outlets WAY more hateful now

I'd like to see a comparison of viewership figures for Fox News vs. InfoWars, TheBlaze and Breitbart.

This is Fox News' problem: The Fox News viewer base now wants Alex Jones-style discourse. The Fox News advertiser base ain't gonna put their commercials on a network with Alex Jones clones throwing hissy fits 24/7. And the advertisers who are currently buying Breitbart (Jones subsidizes his website with donations and a prepper store) can't afford to sponsor Fox News.

A chart of those four operations would probably show Fox declining at about the same rate Alex Jones is ascending.

[Ccarmona]

29. The Mercers Will Start

An uber right-wing fact-challenged outlet to offer a landing spot for their mouthpieces. It will be the Nationalists wet dream of even a higher level on uninhibited hate and racism.

[greymattermom]

30. The old man I knew who watched Fox

watched it for the bimbos. I don't think those other outlets will be able to match that.

[rpannier]

27. Hannity was going to quit when Ailes was on the hot seat

He stayed
I'll believe he's leaving and giving up his multi-millions when I see it

[keithbvadu2]

31. Coward Hannity also said he would be waterboarded. No credibility

[kairos12]

39. But it's not torture. Torture is listening to blockhead.

[keithbvadu2]

32. Ready to take over for FOX - Breitbart

[spixxen]

33. I think they are just remodeling......

......and renovating.

Since the sons are running daddy's shop they are taking FOX in a different direction.

They see that their core audience is dying off and will soon change their entire gimmick to appeal to the alt Right AND alt Left.

They are in rebuilding mode and see that the future lies with the younger crowd.

They'll just jettison any relics and leave their faithful hanging over a cliff.

[kimbutgar]

40. With no enemy to go after i.e. president Obama they got nothing to report but the stupid

Shit chump says. Doesn't go over well with his cult base.

Will we see Alex Jones go mainstream now?

[redstateblues]

42. Yeah right. Reminds me of when all the pundits said the Republican was over

During the primaries. I wish. Don't underestimate the resilience of ignorance that grips 41% of our population.

[Skittles]

45. it is a lot easier to pander to fear and ignorance

than it is to pander to people with critical thinking skills

[Nevernose]

50. The median age of Fox viewers is 68

My guess is that normal corporate flunky types don't really care beyond a ear or three. Those are bridges for crossing later.

Murdoch' kids, however, will probably be interested in seeing this profit machine continue, and if that means dropping the craziest of the evil employees and retooling with programming designed to appeal to younger viewers and be ongoing, then all the better for the Murdoch family.

Fox can't get much worse for America or planet Earth, so at least us commoners don't have much to fear.

[Warpy]

51. Rupert Murdoch is a crafty old devil.

Maybe he's reading the writing on the wall that's telling him the far right has about run its course and after a few years of an ignorant loser candidate in the White House, it will be completely finished. Either he'll shut it down or clean house and change its editorial focus so it will appeal to people under 50.

Stranger things have happened. My best guess says it will slowly peter out and fade to black rather than induce whiplash by changing its programming bias.

[Eyeball_Kid]

52. I wouldn't get too worked up about it.

The Murdochs see the handwriting on the wall. Their demographics aren't too promising. They really want to spin out all of the old blood before all of their audience has gone to nursing homes or worse, so they're making a spectacle of it for ratings.

Hannity "tweets" that he's concerned about the future of the network. Cry me a river. He can be "concerned" and actually NOT tweet! Ever think of that, Sean?

Besides, the Murdochs have sold shit for decades. Let 'em rot.

[Alice11111]

55. I never thought I would love anything about Fox, but this...

I wish Eric Bolling would be sucked down the sewar too.

[Kablooie]

56. The black president is gone and the new one is Republican so they can pack up and go home.

Kwnoing that they leave a job well done.

[Vinca]

57. Unfortunately, it seems MSNBC wants to pick up the slack.

Imagine. You've got high ratings so you start hiring losers to bring them down.

[HAB911]

59. Confluence of two factors

Women standing up and suing

Murdoch boys taking over the business

[HAB911]

60. What really went down at Fox

We hear there are many more shoes to drop at Fox News (both revelations and replacements), even after yesterday's departure of co-president Bill Shine, the longtime Roger Ailes consigliere. (Press release here, with all the changes.)

A Fox source emails me (all fascinating):

"Simple fact is [Murdoch sons] James and Lachlan have been looking to turn the page since last summer. They convinced the board and their father that new leadership is required. They were willing to give Bill a chance to bring the place around. It wasn't clear that he was going to be able to be the change agent that was required.

"They were 100 percent serious about the cultural/workplace expectations for the place and inpatient waiting for Shine to deliver a clean bill of health. Expect we'll see more change ...

"Neither son is driving for a change of editorial (despite that convenient narrative) — but they are unwavering on change of management and a high performing work environment. Furious about the mess Roger created."

Drudge's priceless headline: "FOX LOSES ITS SHINE."

https://www.axios.com/axios-am-2388682641.html

[brooklynite]

66. Good thing there's a NEW network in development...

EXCLUSIVE: New Conservative Network Now Actively Trying to Lure Sean Hannity

Late last week, we broke the story that there could soon be another game in town for conservative news viewers looking for a competitor to Fox News.

As we reported Friday:

“A well-placed source close to the proposal tells Mediaite that serious discussions are underway to create an alternative conservative cable network on the belief that the Fox News Network is moving too far to the left. The source, who is engaged in the talks, says a meeting is planned for today with two prominent high-powered television executives, some underperforming conservative networks and people who have an interest and the ability to fund a new network.”

Since we first published that story, a senior TV executive involved in those discussions not only confirmed our story, but told us that it could come to fruition within a year:

“I’m working on it (the new conservative channel) hot and heavy. . . It’s live, it’s real.” We are told by two sources involved, that the meeting Friday led to even more confidence that the network will soon become a reality.

http://www.mediaite.com/tv/exclusive-new-conservative-network-now-actively-trying-to-lure-sean-hannity/