Plan B Forum

Bill Barr meets with Rupert Murdoch....


...and Shep Smith is escorted from the building after his "resignation".

Scooter wrote:Bill Barr meets with Rupert Murdoch....
...and Shep Smith is escorted from the building after his "resignation".

What happened first? What was the time frame?

Smith's parting words... it doesn't sound like Barr had anything to do with it.

“Recently I asked the company to allow me to leave Fox News and begin a new chapter,” Smith said in a statement. “After requesting that I stay, they graciously obliged. The opportunities afforded this guy from small town Mississippi have been many. It’s been an honor and a privilege to report the news each day to our loyal audience in context and with perspective, without fear or favor. I’ve worked with the most talented, dedicated and focused professionals I know and I’m proud to have anchored their work each day — I will deeply miss them.”

It doesn't serve either side to admit that he was fired, so having Smith put out a statement that he "resigned" works for both.

I’m glad to read that blurb from him; I just saw the headline and was worried it was health reasons - which I suppose could still be true if you count the stress of being a fairly principled professional stuck working with a bunch of sniveling sycophants like most of the FOX crew.

I hope he lands someplace where he can contribute to honest news, he’s a decent voice.

BoSoxGal wrote:... I hope he lands someplace where he can contribute to honest news, he’s a decent voice.

If Smith shows up rather quickly with some other major network it's a good bet that his "non-compete" clause was waived provided he left with kind words about the FUX News group.

wesw wrote:

Nothing to say about Arms for Dirt, Laughing Boy? Nothing at all?

An earlier voluntary resignation:

Dear Rupert,

"With your support, I am proud that we have built Fox News and Fox Business Channels into powerful and lucrative news organizations that inform our audience and reward our shareholders. I take particular pride in the role that I have played advancing the careers of the many women I have promoted to executive and on-air positions. Many of these talented journalists have deservedly become household names known for their intelligence and strength, whether reporting the news, fair and balanced, and offering exciting opinions on our opinion programs. Fox News has become Number 1 in all of cable because I consistently identified and promoted the most talented men and women in television, and they performed at the highest levels.

"Having spent 20 years building this historic business, I will not allow my presence to become a distraction from the work that must be done every day to ensure that Fox News and Fox Business continue to lead our industry. I am confident that everyone at Fox News and Fox Business will continue as the standard setters that they are, and that the businesses are well positioned for even greater success in the future.

"I am proud of our accomplishments and look forward to continuing to work with you as an adviser in building 21st Century Fox.

"All the best,

"Roger."

I highly recommend Showtime’s recent miniseries The Loudest Voice for a glimpse into the twisted mind of Roger Ailes and some understanding of how FOX News has always been working toward Trump and a bitterly divided nation. Ailes was a monster (monstrousness made incarnate by a terrific portrayal by Russell Crowe) who I hope it roasting in terrible agony at the deepest level of hell.

I wonder if Murdoch first told Barr that he wouldn't fire Smith...

and then woke up with a horse's head in in his bed...

But to be fair...

It's also very possible that Shep had just had enough between the running feuds with the evening line-up Trump propagandists, all the hate mail, etc...

I wonder how much longer Chris Wallace will last...

Il Boobce's idea of a good host for Fox News Sunday is probably Jeanine Pirro...

There are a couple of stories online now that indicate it was entirely Shep’s decision. He’s apparently been dismayed with the turn at FOX since Trump was elected and it sounds like that cunt Tucker Carlson going after Shep on air last month (for the shocking crime of reporting facts instead of spewing sycophantic commentary) was one of the final straws. Obviously you don’t walk away from $15 million/year unless you are deeply unhappy at work.

It sucks that FOX is losing one of a very tiny cadre of sane, responsible voices there. When I worked for the client who watched FOX 24/7, his hour was the only one I found tolerable - and a little of Chris Wallace. That network is truly a disturbing entity and now the brainwashed minion who watch it are going to be even less in touch with reality.

FOX wouldn’t let Shep out of his noncompete so we won’t get to hear from him as a reporter again for likely a few years - but I really hope he writes a book about the death of responsible journalism at the network.

that cunt Tucker Carlson

Agreed. I have to admit that several years ago (maybe 10 or 15) I thought that Carlson was among the more watchable of the conservative commentators, largely, I think, because he opposed GWB's Iraq adventurism. Perhaps I'm misjudging him but he seems to me to be the sort of political commentator whose thoughts on any issue are largely formulated by the potential $$$ payback to himself. Watch for Carlson to be appointed the new head of Homeland Security. He'll fit right in.

I really hope he writes a book about the death of responsible journalism at the network.

I suspect there will definitely be book deal coming soon...

Shep was with FOX News since it's very inception in 1996, and I'm sure he has quite a tale to tell...

I don't expect it to be a bitter, vicious tome (that's not his style) but an illuminating fact based account...

I thought that Carlson was among the more watchable of the conservative commentators

As I've pointed out before, Carlson originally was as a Libertarian-Conservative. He started his career as a writer with The Weekly Standard. (The same conservative magazine run by Bill Kristol, now one of the leading Never Trump Republicans.) He first began as a political TV pundit on CNN, doing a Crossfire Type show called The Spin Room opposite California Democratic operative Bill Press, (And then later a reboot of Crossfire itself)

He then moved on to hosting a show on MSNBC in the mid-oughts where he came from the Libertarian-Conservative perspective. (In fact Rachel Maddox got her TV start from him, appearing as regular interlocutor on the show.) It was an intelligent show, with robust debates between smart and knowledgeable people representing view points across the political spectrum.

After that he was pretty much washed-up as a "cable news personality" (doing just occasional appearances and fill-ins on FOX) when lightning struck and he landed the chance to takeover Bill O'Reilly's time slot...

Unlike his partner in crime, Sean Hannitty (who already had a hugely successful radio show syndicated on several hundred stations before coming to FOX) Tucker has never seen paydays like he's getting now,and he's not about to do ANYTHING to jeopardize the golden goose that fell into his lap. He's a bright fella, and it didn't take him long to figure out that the way to thrive was to regurgitate and validate the toxic and false beliefs of his Trumpanzee core audience. He now enjoys a level of financial security for himself and his family (he has four kids) he could never have dreamed of...

I'm not excusing his cynical, amoral, decision. I find it absolutely despicable and inexcusable. Just explaining it...

One of the reasons I loathe Tucker Carlson so much is that a long ways back when he first emerged in TV political punditry I actually liked him a lot; watching him devolve into a craven scumbag who would spew any lie no matter how disgusting just so he can cash in has been very upsetting. It is possible to live a lot less luxuriously than Carlson and his family do and still be reasonably comfortable and educate your kids, etc. It’s sickening to be an agent of chaos and evil just to feed your own greed.

Tucker’s near the top of the list of people I pray will get pancreatic cancer or glioblastoma - along with Trump and a bunch of other scumbags at FOX and in the GOP who are destroying civility in our political system.

Sadly the world is a random brutal place where people like John McCain and Alex Trebek get those terrible diseases instead.