Fox News Co-president Is Ousted

Fox News has been a successful conservative-leaning news network. But it seems to be coming apart.

First, its president Roger Ailes lost his job for sexual harassment. Recently, the same charges brought down its biggest star, Bill O’Reilly. And a group of black employees is suing Fox for racial discrimination.

Now Bill Shine, the co-president who succeeded Ailes, has lost his job, reportedly for not taking action when all of these complaints came up during his watch.

The owner of the network, Rupert Murdoch, and his sons who have taken over the business have fired Shine, with possibly more changes to come.

Are we seeing the end of conservative news?

From Paul Farhi, Bill Shine, Fox News co-president, resigns from network amid harassment scandal – The Washington Post:

The turmoil at Fox News continued on Monday with the ouster of co-president Bill Shine, who succeeded Roger Ailes amid a sexual-harassment scandal last summer despite Shine’s alleged role in abetting Ailes in tolerating a workplace hostile to women.

Shine, a 20-year Fox News veteran, appeared to have the backing of Fox chairman Rupert Murdoch in the wake of the firing of Bill O’Reilly, Fox’s biggest star. Only last week, Murdoch, Shine and Fox co-president Jack Abernethy were photographed emerging from lunch at a Manhattan restaurant, a tableau widely read as a vote of confidence by Murdoch in the two men.

Instead, Shine appeared to come under increasing pressure all week, as rumors began circulating that Murdoch’s sons — Lachlan and James, who run Fox’s parent company, 21st Century Fox — were seeking his successor.

Shine runs the programming side of the media empire, while Abernethy, also a longtime Fox News executive, runs the business side of the company, including ad sales, finance and distribution.

[Keep reading. . .]