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Fox Benches Karl Rove and Dick Morris

By Jeralyn, Section Media
Posted on Wed Dec 05, 2012 at 10:19:21 AM EST
Tags: Karl Rove (all tags)
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New York Magazine reports Roger Ailes has put out a memo: No bookings of Karl Rove or Dick Morris without permission.

Ailes’s deputy, Fox News programming chief Bill Shine, has sent out orders mandating that producers must get permission before booking Rove or Morris....A Fox spokesperson confirmed the new booking rules for Rove and Morris, and explained that Shine’s message was “the election’s over.”

Multiple sources told NY Mag that Rove's election night tantrum when Fox called the race for Obama made Ailes angry. That was one of the most bizarre episodes of punditing in recent memory -- and embarrassing for the network.

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    Fox Benches Karl Rove and Dick Morris | 35 comments (35 topical)

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    Not a problem (5.00 / 5) (#6)
    by MO Blue on Wed Dec 05, 2012 at 11:20:08 AM EST
    Fox has an unlimited pool of Republicans who are a whole lot crazier than Rove and Morris who can take their place. Also after Lieberman retires, he will have even more time to fill in for them.

    Well there's that, and (5.00 / 1) (#13)
    by KeysDan on Wed Dec 05, 2012 at 01:32:25 PM EST
    disappointed FOX viewers can always pick up the slack with more of Rush.

    Parent
    Bingo! (5.00 / 1) (#14)
    by easilydistracted on Wed Dec 05, 2012 at 01:56:23 PM EST
    There's plenty more where that came from (my dear Mother's catch phrase after heating up my bottom as a child due to some mischief on my part).

    Parent
    A coup. (5.00 / 3) (#7)
    by lentinel on Wed Dec 05, 2012 at 12:21:01 PM EST
    Rove's tantrum was an embarrassment for a network that is itself an embarrassment.

    That takes some doing.

    Funny how the crazies are pissed at each other (5.00 / 2) (#10)
    by Militarytracy on Wed Dec 05, 2012 at 12:38:41 PM EST
    For not having standards, Armey at Freedomworks, Fox vs Rove and Morris.  It's crazy on crazy, hope it becomes a feeding frenzy :)

    Parent
    But not if you've ... (none / 0) (#20)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Wed Dec 05, 2012 at 06:56:06 PM EST
    ... proven yourself to be impervious to the concept of self-consciousness.

    Parent
    The Republicans thought... (5.00 / 5) (#16)
    by unitron on Wed Dec 05, 2012 at 05:26:49 PM EST
    ...that Fox News was a subsidary of the GOP.

    And so they never noticed it was the other way around.

    Shame (none / 0) (#21)
    by Jack203 on Wed Dec 05, 2012 at 09:01:41 PM EST
    I will miss Dick Morris, the all time worst political pundit ever. http://andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com/2012/11/dick-morris.html

    Parent
    What in the hell is going on? (none / 0) (#1)
    by Militarytracy on Wed Dec 05, 2012 at 10:36:56 AM EST


    Proof that for all the chatter about Fox (none / 0) (#2)
    by Slado on Wed Dec 05, 2012 at 10:57:11 AM EST
    it is a business and they want to put out a good product.

    Say what you will about Fox but it's a well oiled machine and doesn't need over anxious pundits who get things spectacularly wrong to keep it's ratings supremacy.

    Parent

    Please (5.00 / 5) (#3)
    by Dadler on Wed Dec 05, 2012 at 11:05:21 AM EST
    He's just mad at them. The big guy believed the same sh*t they did, or he never would've let it on the air. Fox is a network aimed at the single least intelligent demographic in the nation -- free Americans who have used their freedom to do nothing more than make themselves ignorant.  And that is the simple truth. Not that the other MSM outlets are that much better, just that Fox long ago decided to be THE steaming pile of sh*t, and they have succeeded beyond their wildest imaginations.

    Parent
    I agree;;. (5.00 / 1) (#9)
    by lentinel on Wed Dec 05, 2012 at 12:23:52 PM EST
    but CNN is a close second. Very close. Too close.

    Parent
    Get a grip Dadler (none / 0) (#25)
    by Slado on Thu Dec 06, 2012 at 08:28:20 AM EST
    Fox is the king of Cable news.  Look in the mirror when you make fun of the people who watch it.  The reason it does so well is everybody watches it.

    I get so tired of the smuggery required to explain away the fact that Fox news does so well.

    Reason #1 - They put out a product completely different then the rest of the news industry.  Namely a right leaning news cast.

    Reason #2 - Production value is higher then anything else on cable news.

    Reason #3 - Better Talent

    That's why Fox News trounces anyone else in cable news.

    Nobody comes close.

    Parent

    I think... (5.00 / 4) (#28)
    by kdog on Thu Dec 06, 2012 at 09:15:12 AM EST
    the reason they do well in the ratings is they tell their audience exactly what they want to hear.  Namely that they are the victim.  may as well call it the stereotype reinforcement network.

    I watch Fox quite a bit for the unintentional comedy...that's the impression I get.  The other stations do it too to some extent, but a shred of journalistic scruples remain to hold them back just a tad.  Fox is at another level bro.

    Parent

    BS (5.00 / 2) (#31)
    by Yman on Thu Dec 06, 2012 at 11:56:32 AM EST
    They're the "king" of cable news because they cater to a segment of the population that wants propaganda instead of actual news.  In fact, their highest rated shows are all opinion shows hosted by right-wing blowhards throwing red meat to their fellow wingers.

    1 - You must be mistaken.  They're not a "right-leaning newscast" - they're "fair and balanced".  But you are right in one respect.  Since they are the only "right-leaning newscast", they don't have any competition.  People interested in actual news are divided up amongst the other cable and broadcast channels.  That's why they're "the king".

    1.  "Production value is higher than anything else on cable news"?  Based on what?  Maybe you're right ... there is a segment of the population that values appearance over substance.

    2.  "Better talent"?!?

    Hannity? O'Reilly?  Huckabee?  Cavuto?

    Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha ...

    Parent

    The only thing I can agree with in your statement (5.00 / 2) (#4)
    by Militarytracy on Wed Dec 05, 2012 at 11:07:13 AM EST
    Is that Fox is oily.  They feed rage addicts, that isn't that hard to do :)

    Parent
    I mean didn'tcha hear? (5.00 / 1) (#5)
    by Militarytracy on Wed Dec 05, 2012 at 11:11:48 AM EST
    The Muslim Kenyan Usurper now has the audacity to put up too many Christmas trees in the White House while simultaneously supporting waging war on Christmas.

    Parent
    And (5.00 / 5) (#8)
    by lentinel on Wed Dec 05, 2012 at 12:22:59 PM EST
    the oily boid catches the woim.

    Sorry.

    Parent

    You made my eyes roll so hard.... (5.00 / 2) (#15)
    by magster on Wed Dec 05, 2012 at 03:11:18 PM EST
    that they fell out of my head and on to the floor. Fortunately my dog thought we were playing ball and he retrieved them for me.

    Parent
    "Ratings supremacy" - heh (5.00 / 2) (#22)
    by Yman on Wed Dec 05, 2012 at 10:23:19 PM EST
    They've carved out a niche for a winger audience that prefers fictional propaganda to factual news and that's created their "ratings supremacy" over actual news stations.

    Must have been what you meant by a "good product" ...

    Parent

    Yup, "good product" (none / 0) (#23)
    by NYShooter on Wed Dec 05, 2012 at 11:02:48 PM EST
    Belongs right up there with "death tax."

    But, I get that a lot from some of my cognitively challenged friends when I try to point out the embarrassingly duplicitous "news" Fox puts out there. They always (quite smugly, of course) chirp back, "well, there must be a whole lot of "dopes" like me for Fox to be #1 every year."

    So, I answer with, "if ratings ="good," just imagine how "good" Lucy reruns would be if Justine Bieber announced that for New Years Eve this year he was going to try and break "The Largest Turd Ever" on the Lucy set.

    Even Wingers understand Turds.


    Parent

    It is (5.00 / 2) (#24)
    by Ga6thDem on Thu Dec 06, 2012 at 07:15:27 AM EST
    a business but they have never been concerned with putting out a good product. They are like the national enquirer of news. As long as people will buy their crap they are going to keep shoveling it. The problem is that Fox has now become a laughing stock and their junk has finally caught up with them.

    If Fox was so concerned with that kind of stuff they would be dumping more than just Rove and Morris. They would be putting people like Ann Coulter on that list too.

    Parent

    Give me a break (none / 0) (#26)
    by Slado on Thu Dec 06, 2012 at 08:35:23 AM EST
    Time to take off the blue colored glasses.

    They trounce CNN and MSNBC.

    Not only are they the number one cable news network they are the number three cable network.

    Parent

    Hey, thanks for the ride in the WayBack (5.00 / 2) (#30)
    by Anne on Thu Dec 06, 2012 at 11:12:58 AM EST
    Machine - you couldn't find an article newer than February of 2009?

    And you wonder why no one takes you seriously...

    Parent

    You're citing rating success ... (5.00 / 2) (#32)
    by Yman on Thu Dec 06, 2012 at 12:11:09 PM EST
    ... as proof that they put out a good product?  Maybe if you define their product as conservative propaganda designed to capture an older/conservative segment of the market, rather than news.

    Of course, liberals and moderates are divided up among the numerous, other broadcast and cable networks, whereas Fox has the wingers all to itself.  Why wouldn't they're ratings be the highest (well, ... among cable networks, at least)?

    Parent

    "their" ... (none / 0) (#33)
    by Yman on Thu Dec 06, 2012 at 01:02:31 PM EST
    ... ratings.

    Parent
    Oh, please. (none / 0) (#19)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Wed Dec 05, 2012 at 06:45:24 PM EST
    It's readily apparent that Fox News has been operating as the GOP's de facto media arm for quite some time now.

    Let me state up front that I would probably not find anything wrong with Fox News' performance as a partisan propaganda outlet per se, were its role in attempting to shape public perception both fully acknowledged upfront and publicly disclosed.

    And that's where Fox News fails spectacularly in its pretensions toward the practice of honest journalism, especially whenever its bubbleheaded on-air personalities level charges of political bias against other media.

    Now, those charges may arguably have some merit (as one might ascertain after an evening spent viewing MSNBC's primetime programming), but honestly, the Fox News bimbo brigade is the very last group to be making that particular case.

    Fox News has every right to conduct and produce its programming as its executives and owners so desire, just as I have every right to roll my eyes aat the results and call a spade a spade.

    Aloha.

    Parent

    Give Roger a new name...Ginger Ailes (none / 0) (#11)
    by Dadler on Wed Dec 05, 2012 at 12:56:12 PM EST
    That really makes me laugh.  And this Ginger is "Evil," sayeth the inimitable Howlin' Wolf.

    Fox may have helped ... (none / 0) (#12)
    by Robot Porter on Wed Dec 05, 2012 at 01:31:20 PM EST
    the Republicans at some time in the past. But now it's one of the best fundraising tools the Democrats have ever had.

    you had me until this: (none / 0) (#17)
    by cpinva on Wed Dec 05, 2012 at 05:40:41 PM EST
    and embarrassing for the network.

    not possible. FOX has shown, consistently, that it is impossible for it to be embarrassed. so you know this "memo" is a hoax.

    Out of sight, out of mind? (none / 0) (#18)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Wed Dec 05, 2012 at 06:23:39 PM EST
    Dick Morris has forever been, and will always be, a world-class a$$ and on-air embarrassment. No real loss there for Ailes & Co.

    But without a doubt, while Karl Rove's election night rant on Fox News made for some very compelling theatre, it also damaged its brand name of Fox News in a way that much of the general public found hard to ignore. That meltdown inadvertantly highlighted the network's primary role as the GOP's media arm, just as Rove's subsequent banishment underscores in hindsight a moment in time which Roger Ailes would dearly love to forget.

    Yawn (none / 0) (#27)
    by Slado on Thu Dec 06, 2012 at 08:36:12 AM EST
    Good TV is good TV.

    Fox will chug along without him.

    Parent

    I, Claudius (5.00 / 2) (#34)
    by jondee on Thu Dec 06, 2012 at 01:21:24 PM EST
    was "good t.v"..

    The simple, obvious, and tawdry reality is that most of the folks who regularly tune into the "good t.v" of Fox don't want to be stimulated and intellectually challenged in any way that might signify, or point to any potential realities outside the Free Markets and "this is a Christian nation" box.

    They might as well all give up the ghost now.  

    Parent

    I absolutely loved (5.00 / 2) (#35)
    by Zorba on Thu Dec 06, 2012 at 01:53:08 PM EST
    "I, Claudius"!  I loved it to the extent that I bought it in DVD.  Those BBC series are great.  I also bought their "The Six Wives of Henry VII."
    Somehow, however, I cannot help but feel that most of the regular Fox News viewers have ever seen either of these.  :-(

    Parent
    Did you see Stewart Varney (none / 0) (#29)
    by fishcamp on Thu Dec 06, 2012 at 11:01:11 AM EST
    interviewing Tommy Chong this morning.  They went back and forth about mm and Stewart asked Tommy if he was stoned right now and Tommy said he was always stoned.  Tommy also said he could tell by Stewart's voice that he was stoned too.  The entire Fox studio cracked up laughing.  First true humor I've ever heard on Fox.

    Fox Benches Karl Rove and Dick Morris | 35 comments (35 topical)

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