Reaction to Roger Ailes' exit as Fox News Channel chief
Reaction to Fox News Channel chief executive Roger Ailes' exit Thursday from the network following anchorwoman Gretchen Carlson's allegations of misconduct, which Ailes has denied.
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"Within just two weeks of her filing a lawsuit against Roger Ailes, Gretchen Carlson's extraordinary courage has caused a seismic shift in the media world. We hope that all businesses now understand that women will no longer tolerate sexual harassment and reputable companies will no longer shield those who abuse women." - Nancy Erika Smith and Martin Hyman, attorneys for Carlson.
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"The fact that Rupert Murdoch was named chairman and CEO shows how hard it is to find someone with the name and recognition of Roger Ailes. They'd have to go to the top of Mount Everest." - Andrew Heyward, consultant and former CBS News president.
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"I'm pleased that he was fired. It should have happened long ago. ... He did make the news interesting - disgusting, but interesting - and that will live on. That has affected all of us that are consumers of news." - Robert Greenwald, maker of the 2004 documentary "Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism."
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"Whoever invented the Coca-Cola formula has long since passed this Earth, but the brand keeps selling because people like the taste. And I think that's how it's going to be with Roger Ailes. He invented this winning formula and all you have to do is not mess with it too much and it will continue to mint money for you." - Mark Feldstein, journalism professor at the University of Maryland.
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"I think Roger...had as much of an impact at Fox as Steve Jobs did over at Apple. He's just had such a profound impact on the network, and I think it will be difficult for them to move ahead. But the Murdoch sons wanted him out anyway and wanted to move in a new direction." - Joe Scarborough, host of MSNBC's "Morning Joe."
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"His legacy is a travesty of fairness and a trail of propaganda. ... That he has been forced to step down for his flagrant abuses of personal power - abuses fully in synch with his repulsive political views - is only a bit of poetic justice. But not enough." - Todd Gitlin, professor of journalism and sociology, Columbia University.
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"There's every reason to think that Fox News can build on its reputation and its approach to news that it's done under Ailes leadership. However, evolution happens, sometimes whether you want it or not." - Frank Sesno, director of the School of Media and Public Affairs at George Washington University.
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"These kinds of allegations have been around for a long time, but very often, women are not believed. I think in this instance for the first time certainly at Fox, somebody said 'Hey, wait a minute, we need to take this seriously.' And that's an enormous sea change not just at Fox but I think in our country, that women are being listened to and men who previously would say they're not a harasser but they might have turned a blind eye to the actions of their colleagues." - Betsy West, media professor at Columbia Journalism School and TV producer.
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"Fox would have been more like CNN if not for Roger Ailes. Rupert Murdoch is a conservative, but the Republican intensity, the conservative passion including the viciousness toward the Democrats that we see now against Hillary Clinton, that's been going on against (President Barack) Obama all these years, all that is Roger Ailes, who was a Republican tooth-and-nail before he got that really important job at Fox News." - Paul Levinson, professor of communications and media studies at Fordham University.