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Fox News staffers worry Shepard Smith's departure will further push out facts
https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/12/media/fox-news-shepard-smith-facts-news/index.html
By Brian Stelter, CNN Business
Updated 4:02 PM ET, Sat October 12, 2019
New York (CNN Business) As soon as Shep Smith signed off Fox News on Friday, he rode down a freight elevator to the underground garage where a car and driver were waiting. His departure was emotional enough as is -- he didn't want a tearful goodbye in his studio or the newsroom.
He knew his colleagues would have questions and concerns. The big question: What will Fox's news operation look like without him?
Among rank and file staffers and even some of the network's anchors,there is deep concern that the news side of Fox will be further squeezed by the opinion shows that President Trump and his supporters prefer.
Smith anchored one of the few newscasts on Fox that provided a no-nonsense reality check about the Trump administration and other big news stories. Smith felt that he had to counteract misleading information that was flowing out of Fox's pro-Trump talk shows.
For that reason, and many others, he was a role model for journalists at the network, and that's why the loss is "heartbreaking," in the words of one of a dozen sources who spoke for this story on condition of anonymity.
"His departure comes at a tough time for this country," one of the staffers said. "We're going into an election that promises to be the most chaotic one we've ever seen. The President himself is on the verge of being impeached. We're heading into some uncharted territory here and without Shep to help reign in the chaos, I fear things are going to get much, much worse."
Not everyone at Fox feels that way, though -- far from it. Smith has his detractors inside the building, mostly on the opinion side, and tensions reached a breaking point last month.
Smith went to Fox News management and asked to be let out of his $15 million per year contract. He said the executives tried to convince him to stay, but eventually let him leave.
The past few years at Fox -- with the departures of Bill O'Reilly, Megyn Kelly, and other major stars -- have shown that the network chugs along no matter who is in the hosts' chair. Fox has a tremendously loyal audience. So from that perspective, everyone is replaceable, including Smith.
But his exit is a definite blow to morale for the network's journalists, according to the sources interviewed for this story.
And it highlights the turmoil between Fox's newscasts and its higher-rated talk shows that actively undermine those newscasts while defending Trump at all costs.
</snip>
By Brian Stelter, CNN Business
Updated 4:02 PM ET, Sat October 12, 2019
New York (CNN Business) As soon as Shep Smith signed off Fox News on Friday, he rode down a freight elevator to the underground garage where a car and driver were waiting. His departure was emotional enough as is -- he didn't want a tearful goodbye in his studio or the newsroom.
He knew his colleagues would have questions and concerns. The big question: What will Fox's news operation look like without him?
Among rank and file staffers and even some of the network's anchors,there is deep concern that the news side of Fox will be further squeezed by the opinion shows that President Trump and his supporters prefer.
Smith anchored one of the few newscasts on Fox that provided a no-nonsense reality check about the Trump administration and other big news stories. Smith felt that he had to counteract misleading information that was flowing out of Fox's pro-Trump talk shows.
For that reason, and many others, he was a role model for journalists at the network, and that's why the loss is "heartbreaking," in the words of one of a dozen sources who spoke for this story on condition of anonymity.
"His departure comes at a tough time for this country," one of the staffers said. "We're going into an election that promises to be the most chaotic one we've ever seen. The President himself is on the verge of being impeached. We're heading into some uncharted territory here and without Shep to help reign in the chaos, I fear things are going to get much, much worse."
Not everyone at Fox feels that way, though -- far from it. Smith has his detractors inside the building, mostly on the opinion side, and tensions reached a breaking point last month.
Smith went to Fox News management and asked to be let out of his $15 million per year contract. He said the executives tried to convince him to stay, but eventually let him leave.
The past few years at Fox -- with the departures of Bill O'Reilly, Megyn Kelly, and other major stars -- have shown that the network chugs along no matter who is in the hosts' chair. Fox has a tremendously loyal audience. So from that perspective, everyone is replaceable, including Smith.
But his exit is a definite blow to morale for the network's journalists, according to the sources interviewed for this story.
And it highlights the turmoil between Fox's newscasts and its higher-rated talk shows that actively undermine those newscasts while defending Trump at all costs.
</snip>
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