Ailes Tells Fox Anchors to ‘Tone it Down’

[spanone]

Roger Ailes, the president of Fox News, on Monday embraced the idea of a more civil public discourse in the wake of the shootings in Arizona.

In an interview with the hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons, which was posted on his Web site, Mr. Ailes said that his network would try to cool the heated rhetoric.

“I told all of our guys, shut up, tone it down, make your argument intellectually,” Mr. Ailes said. “You don’t have to do it with bombast. I hope the other side does that.”

Fox News is often accused by critics of crossing the line with hosts like Bill O’Reilly, Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity.

But Mr. Ailes accused liberals of using the same overheated rhetoric, and he defended Sarah Palin, the former governor of Alaska,

for a map that depicted cross hairs over the district of Representative Gabrielle Giffords, who was one of the 20 people shot on Saturday.



http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/11/ailes-to-fox-anchors-tone-it-down/?hp

[Thunderstruck]

1. I've got a better idea (at least I think so)...

How about just report the news objectively, without opinionate rhetoric?

[pinto]

2. Telling comment - "I hope the other side does that." Fair and balanced...

:eyes:

But good to see *some* acknowledgment of their role in political discourse, fwiw.

[onehandle]

3. 'Ailes admits that Palin and the rest of Fox News are guilty'

Why else speak up at this time?

[spanone]

4. yep, if they were not over the top, there would be no reason to adjust.

that's how i read it.

[yellowcanine]

5. Fox tells hens to stop clucking so loudly while he is sneaking around the henhouse...

Let's all be civil, shall we?

[katsy]

6. ROFL

Intellectually? At fux?

Funny.

:rofl:

[Tuvok Obama]

7. The "other side"?

What happened to "fair and balanced"? Did FOX stop pretending it's not a Republican mouthpiece?

(Seriously, I canceled my expanded cable a long time ago, so if they've stopped pretending to be unbiased, I was unaware.)

[mariawr]

8. It means nothing. Nothing. nt

[Sinistrous]

9. I know this is butt-covering by Ailes, however, it will be interesting

to see if he fires or otherwise censures anybody for not following his expressed "policy."

In the meantime, inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale...

[warren pease]

10. "...make your argument intellectually,” Mr. Ailes said.

Should be the shortest argument in TV history.

sg

[malaise]

11. Fugg him

He created this mess

[jwirr]

12. What will hannity, beck, o'reilly be without their hate speech? Nothing.

I predict they may tone it down for a day or so but then back to the old and tried.

[femrap]

13. At least Murdoch is

losing $$$$ on his MySpace investment. I did a little dance.

[lumberjack_jeff]

14. "The other side"?

Who's "the other side" of a news organization?

Answer: News organizations don't have adversaries or allies.

[brooklynite]

15. But, Fox doesn't HAVE a "Side"...

...they're "Fair and Balanced" (TM)