On Monday, Fox News dropped a piece of shocking news that had been rumored since last week: the head of programming, Bill Shine, is out. Here was the internal statement from the office of Rupert Murdoch, the owner of Fox News:
MURDOCH statement to Fox News employees pic.twitter.com/5bEdcuyntQ
— Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) May 1, 2017
Shine had been under scrutiny for months since allegations of sexual harassment against Bill O’Reilly and Roger Ailes came out; there had been accusations that Shine didn’t do enough to stop the sexual harassment. Shine was Ailes’ deputy from the outset, starting in 1996 with the launch of Fox News. He made O’Reilly, Sean Hannity, and Greta van Susteren into stars. Shine has been filling Ailes’ shoes since Ailes’ ouster last year.
The new head of programming is Suzanne Scott and the new president of news is Jay Wallace. The Hill reports:
Pressure was building for Fox to make more changes to its work environment after Ailes and former top-rated host Bill O’Reilly were both ousted over sexual harassment accusations. Scott has also been with the network since its inception in 1996 and has served as senior vice president of programming and development since 2009.