The Rise of Fox News | 6. What Hath We Wrought?

Slow Burn

Slate Podcasts

News, Society & Culture, History, Documentary, Politics

4.6 • 25.1K Ratings

🗓️ 23 October 2024

⏱️ 73 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The 2004 presidential race would be the first fully Fox News election—a contest that was framed by Fox, and fought on its terms. But the fight over Fox News was about more than just partisan politics. It also launched covert ops against reporters and let loose a secret army of online trolls. And when a Fox producer made serious allegations against Bill O’Reilly, the network showed just how far it would go to defend its biggest star—no matter the cost. To read our full reporting on the most recent legal actions between Bill O'Reilly and Andrea Mackris, and learn more about how a non-disclosure agreement from two decades ago has kept Mackris silent, go to slate.com/foxnda. Want more from Slow Burn? Join Slate Plus to unlock full access to all seasons, including members-only bonus episodes from The Rise of Fox News. You'll also enjoy ad-free listening to all of your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe now by clicking "Try Free" at the top of the Slow Burn show page on Apple Podcasts. Or, visit slate.com/slowburnplus to get access wherever you listen. Season 10 of Slow Burn was written and reported by Josh Levin. It was executive produced by Lizzie Jacobs. Slow Burn is produced by Sophie Summergrad, Joel Meyer, and Rosie Belson with help from Patrick Fort, Jacob Fenston, and Julia Russo. Derek John is Slate’s executive producer of narrative podcasts. This season was edited by Susan Matthews and Hillary Frey. Merritt Jacob is our senior technical director. Mix and sound design by Joe Plourde. Our theme music was composed by Alexis Cuadrado. Derreck Johnson created the artwork for this season. Episode artwork by Ivylise Simones. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Ladies, always discreet, has something to say.
0:03.0	If your bladder leaks or not,
0:06.0	always remember to squeeze a day.
0:09.0	Keep your pelvic floor stronger for longer. just by squeezing on through the day.
0:16.0	Just left and hold just left and hold to always squeeze the day when you need protection come morning always
0:27.5	discreet we'll like those leaks away the way Roger Ailes saw it the only thing that mattered in cable news was getting people to watch.
0:36.4	If you don't get the ratings, you go off the air and you're out of work and my mother doesn't want me to be out of work.
0:42.0	Fox was getting the ratings, and Dales like to brag.
0:46.0	We're the new kids on the block.
0:48.0	We are the smallest in terms of distribution of the networks and the newest, and we are doing quite well in the
0:54.3	ratings. There was also this exchange when C-SPAN's Brian Lamb asked him to talk
1:00.3	about anything but Fox's viewership.
1:03.0	Besides the ratings, when did you get a sense that things were working?
1:06.0	Well, I don't know exactly when I knew it was working,
1:09.0	but the first time we really beat CNN for an evening.
1:12.8	I went down and announced it in the newsroom.
1:15.0	The staff was standing on their desk cheering.
1:17.2	I said, you know, these people have a lot of spirit.
1:20.0	They want to win.
1:21.5	Fox News had plenty of wins to celebrate.
1:24.0	First, they'd moved ahead of MS NBC, then CNN,
1:28.0	and finally zoomed past the ratings king of cable TV.
	...

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