Monday, May 23, 2011

How Fox made millions promoting tea party candidates, but faces an uncertain future

Fascinating story in New York magazine about Roger Ailes, probably the single most important media figure in America (of course, next to his boss, Rupert Murdoch but maybe even more important), and how Ailes' political maneuverings had made his network, Fox, nearly a billion dollars next year but may have cost him the next election by promoting tea party candidates who have skewed the Republican Party so far right that it could lose the next election.

The story demonstrates that, as we all knew, media can "create" political movements, but cannot control the directions they take. It also tells us how a major political party can be so intertwined with the "objective" journalists that both can lose.

It's a very well-done piece that really is a guide for us all today on many, many levels -- the mark of a good magazine story.

No comments: