The Loudest Voice in the Room: How the Brilliant, Bombastic Roger Ailes Built Fox News--and Divided a Country
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6. The grand interior Chafets, Roger Ailes, 105–6.
7. They attended Ibid., 175.
8. Leonora Burton Author interview with Cold Spring shop owner Leonora Burton.
9. One was that Boyer, “Fox Among the Chickens.”
10. Buying The Putnam County News Brian Stelter, “Big-Time Cable News to Small-Town Paper,” New York Times, July 14, 2008.
11. Founded in the mid-nineteenth century Boyer, “Fox Among the Chickens.”
12. In a one-room office Ibid.
13. “It covered the 4-H Club” Author interview with investment adviser Elizabeth Anderson.
14. Letters to the editor Boyer, “Fox Among the Chickens.”
15. When citizens complained Author interview with former Putnam County News & Recorder employees.
16. In the 1960s Scenic Hudson Preservation Conference v. Federal Power Commission, U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit, Docket 29853.
17. The ensuing legal battle Kathleen Teltsch, “Hudson Group Seeking River Study Proposals,” New York Times, Dec. 19, 1982.
18. The landmark victory Marist College, “Scenic Hudson Collection: Records Relating to the Storm King Case, 1963–1981,” historical note, http://library.marist.edu/archives/shc/scenichudsoncollection.xml, accessed Nov. 13, 2013.
19. In Philipstown, a host See Open Space Institute, Hudson Highlands Land Trust.
20. the Garrison Institute Garrison Institute, “Mission and Vision,” http://www.garrisoninstitute.org/about-us/mission-and-vision, accessed Nov. 13, 2013.
21. One morning in July 2008 Author interviews with Putnam County News & Recorder employees.
22. They could keep their jobs Boyer, “Fox Among the Chickens.”
23. “The first one” Author interview with journalist Michael Turton.
24. In public Stelter, “Big-Time Cable News to Small-Town Paper.”
25. “He said the community” Author interview with Kevin Foley.
26. campaign volunteer Matthew Boyle, “A Force Behind Met Life’s IPO,” PR Week, July 26, 1999.
27. Later that summer Author interviews with former Putnam County News & Recorder employees.
28. she didn’t last Maureen Hunt email to Putnam County News & Recorder staff, Oct. 31, 2008.
29. Alison Rooney Author interview with a former Putnam County News & Recorder employee.
30. But that honeymoon ended “Myth and Deception at Play in Maria Pia Marrella Exhibit at Garrison Art Center,” Putnam County News & Recorder, March 4, 2009.
31. After the release Reverend Brian McSweeney, “A Degradation of the Religious Beliefs of the Catholic Church,” Putnam County News & Recorder, March 11, 2009.
32. A few weeks later “PVHS TheatreWorks Presents a Musical,” Putnam County News & Recorder, April 15, 2009.
33. After the event Draft of article submitted by Michael Turton on the October 2008 mock election at Haldane Middle School viewed by author.
34. The headline had been changed Michael Turton, “Mock Presidential Election Held at Haldane,” Putnam County News & Recorder, Oct. 22, 2008.
35. “I’ve been mulling” Email from Michael Turton to Maureen Hunt and Brian O’Donnell.
36. a series of accusatory emails Email correspondence between Michael Turton, Beth Ailes, and Roger Ailes. Beth Ailes declined to be interviewed for this book.
37. In February 2009 Author interview with a person familiar with the meeting.
38. Lindsley came on Author interview with former News Corp executive Martin Singerman.
39. Lindsley jumped at the opportunity Author interviews with acquaintances of Joe Lindsley. Lindsley declined to comment.
40. “[Ailes] was said” Author interview with Leonora Burton.
41. “I don’t think” Author interview with Robert Ailes Jr.
42. “A team of landscapers” Leonora Burton, Lament of an Expat: How I Discovered America and Tried to Mend It (Bloomington, Ind.: AuthorHouse, 2013), 164–65.
43. “He can live” Author interview with a friend of Roger Ailes.
44. “I’m not allowed” Author interview with Robert Ailes Jr.
45. As Lindsley began Boyer, “Fox Among the Chickens.”
46. The unsigned attack “Debt, Decisions, and Destiny” (editorial), Putnam County News & Recorder, May 13, 2009.
47. Leonora Burton stopped selling the paper Author interview with Leonora Burton.
48. Elizabeth Anderson later decided Author interview with Elizabeth Anderson.
49. Lindsley relished the partisan combat Author interviews with acquaintances of Joe Lindsley.
50. James Borkowski Author interview with attorney and former Putnam County town justice James Borkowski.
51. Borkowski lost to Smith Terence Corcoran, “Smith Easily Defeats McConville for 3rd Term as Putnam Sheriff,” Journal News (Westchester County), Nov. 4, 2009.
52. Richard Shea See website for Richard Shea Construction, http://www.richardsheaconstruction.com/contact.
53. “Jesus, wait a minute” Junod, “Why Does Roger Ailes Hate America?”
54. The first time Shea met Ailes Carr and Arango, “A Fox Chief at the Pinnacle of Media and Politics.”
55. A few weeks later Author interview with a person familiar with the matter. Richard Shea declined to comment.
56. “You can’t mention” Author interview with a person familiar with the matter.
57. “You have no fucking idea” Author interview with a person familiar with the matter.
58. Jeannette Yannitelli Author interview with Putnam County resident Jeannette Yannitelli.
59. Shortly before 7:30 “Residential Re-Zoning: Will Property Owners Weigh In?,” Putnam County News & Recorder, April 7, 2010.
60. “Let us observe” Account of the meeting comes from “Zoning Workshop Draws Hundreds,” Putnam County News & Recorder, April 14, 2010.
61. An hour into the contentious meeting Transcript provided by Cold Spring resident Susan Peehl.
62. Ailes stood up and intervened For footage of Ailes’s remarks, see YouTube video of town hall meeting at Haldane High School on April 7, 2010 (video by Susan Peehl), http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqEErpyQWAs.
63. Ailes loved to quote Washington In an email from Mary Thompson, a research historian at the Fred W. Smith National Library for the Study of George Washington: “We’d love to know the source where you found this alleged quote, so that we can add it to our records on spurious George Washington quotes.” The phrase “a violation of my property is a violation of my personhood” appears in L. William Countryman, Dirt, Greed, & Sex: Sexual Ethics in the New Testament and Their Implications for Today (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2007), p. 144, in a chapter on women and children as property.
64. After the meeting concluded Author interview with Philipstown board member Nancy Montgomery.
65. Later, Ailes had his own version Junod, “Roger Ailes on Roger Ailes: The Interview Transcripts, Part 2.”
66. In the fall of 2010 Author interview with two persons familiar with the meeting in Richard Shea’s office. Shea declined to comment on the meeting.
67. “It was ninety percent inaccurate” Author interview with land use attorney Joel Russell.
68. To that end Liz Schevtchuk Armstrong, “Mystery Point Sold to Billionaire Philanthropist,” Philipstown.info, June 22, 2013, http://philipstown.info/2013/06/22/mystery-point-sold-to-billionaire-philanthropist/.
69. “I used to think” Author interview with Philipstown supervisor Richard Shea.
70. Putnam County resident Gordon Stewart Author interview with Gordon Stewart.
71. “He was an easy guy” Author interview with Robert Ailes Jr.
72. Shortly after Stewart Author interview with Gordon Stewart. See also Annie Chesnut, “District Settles with School-Related Personnel,” Putnam County News & Recorder, Dec. 17, 2008.
73. In the fall of 2009 Author interviews with Gordon Stewart and Susan Peehl.
74. When Ailes got wind Boyer, “F
ox Among the Chickens.”
75. But by the time Author interview with Gordon Stewart.
76. On Tuesday morning, July 6 Boyer, “Fox Among the Chickens.”
77. The following day Author interview with Gordon Stewart.
78. “There was no push” Author interview with a former senior executive at Fox News.
79. Ailes decided to sit Author interview with Gordon Stewart.
80. “They thought” Author interview with former Putnam County News & Recorder reporter Liz Schevtchuk Armstrong.
81. Alison Rooney noticed Author interview with Gordon Stewart. Rooney declined to comment.
82. “It was weird” Author interview with a former Putnam County News & Recorder employee.
83. Tucked between the articles Putnam County News & Recorder, July 14, 2010, 10.
84. T. J. Haley The details of Haley’s tenure at The Putnam County News & Recorder come from author interviews with acquaintances of Haley and people familiar with the matter. Haley declined to comment.
85. The decor in the bathroom Author interview with a person who visited the Putnam County News & Recorder office.
86. Like Haley, Panny See résumé of Carli-Rae Panny at www.carliraepanny.com/resume.html, 6accessed Nov. 13, 2013.
87. “Anytime that anyone” Author interview with a Putnam County politician. Leibell declined to comment.
88. “Vinnie thought it was great” Author interview with Putnam County legislator Sam Oliverio.
89. They ran into each other Author interview with an acquaintance of Vincent Leibell.
90. Ailes spent months Author interview with two Leibell family intimates.
91. In the spring of 2010 Michael Brendan Dougherty, “Longtime Senator Has Staying Power,” Putnam County News & Recorder, April 28, 2010.
92. Some weeks after Author interview with a person familiar with the matter.
93. For years, there had been talk Author interviews with Putnam County politicians.
94. Sheriff Don Smith called Author interview with Putnam County sheriff Don Smith.
95. In June 2010 “FBI Probes Putnam,” Putnam County Courier, June 3, 2010.
96. “This was an ego fight” Author interview with Sam Oliverio.
97. Although Uncle Vinnie Eric Gross, “Leibell Is New County Executive,” Putnam County News & Recorder, Nov. 3, 2010.
98. Then, on Monday morning William K. Rashbaum and Nate Schweber, “Sidewalk Meeting for State Senator and Lawyer Leads to Guilty Plea,” New York Times, Dec. 6, 2010. See also Ashley Parker, “Ex-Senator Gets 21-Month Prison Term in Tax Evasion Case,” New York Times, May 13, 2011.
99. Roger and Beth were trying Author interview with two people familiar with the matter.
100. Initially, the proximity Author interviews with three people in whom Joe Lindsley confided.
101. According to two Author interview with senior executives at Fox News.
102. “You going to talk” Author interview with Gordon Stewart.
103. But as Boyer Peter J. Boyer, Who Killed CBS? The Undoing of America’s Number One Network (New York: Random House, 1988).
104. When Boyer showed up Author interview with a person familiar with the matter.
105. The New Yorker article Boyer, “Fox Among the Chickens.”
106. Ailes was pleased Author interview with Gordon Stewart. When asked to respond to criticism of his article by some residents of Philipstown, Boyer wrote in an email: “It’s beginning to sound like you’ve decided on what you want to write, whatever the facts (you could, by the way, ask David Remnick what he thought of that piece, or Dwight Garner, book critic at the NYT who lives in Cold Spring) … C’mon, Gabe. Be a journalist. It’s an honorable calling.”
107. Lindsley finally decided to resign Author interviews with acquaintances of Joe Lindsley.
108. Roger and Beth did not Details of the former Putnam County News & Recorder reporters exit from the paper come from author interviews with people familiar with the matter.
109. “They made it clear” Author interview with Peter Boyer.
110. In April 2011 John Cook and Hamilton Nolan, “Roger Ailes Caught Spying on the Reporters at His Small-Town Newspaper,” Gawker, April 18, 2011, http://gawker.com/5793012/roger-ailes-caught-spying-on-the-reporters-at-his-small+town-newspaper.
111. “I hate everything” Author interview with a person familiar with the matter.
112. When Ailes walked into Author interview with a former senior Fox producer.
113. In the spring Author interviews with people familiar with the former Putnam County News & Recorder reporters.
114. On January 31 Jeremy W. Peters, “Newsweek and Daily Beast Hire Two More,” “Media Decoder” (blog), New York Times, Jan. 31, 2011, mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/31/newsweek-daily-beast-hire-two-more/.
115. On October 18 Christine Haghney and David Carr, “At Newsweek, Ending Print and a Blend of Two Styles,” “Media Decoder” (blog), New York Times, Oct. 18, 2012.
116. Boyer found a new job Alexander C. Kaufman, “Fox News Hires Peter J. Boyer from Newsweek,” The Wrap, Oct. 18, 2012, http://www.thewrap.com/media/article/fox-news_names-prestigious_newsweek-writer-editor-61251. In an email, Boyer explained the details of his hiring at Fox News: “I hadn’t known the Aileses before I wrote that New Yorker story, and I spent most of my time with Beth up there at her paper. I interviewed Roger by telephone, as I recollect. A couple of months after the story was published, I met Roger socially, and we got along quite well, and over the next year or so we had a couple of lunches, and had some laughs. By this time, I’d taken the leap to Newsweek with Tina whom Roger knew pretty well. In the spring of 2012, Roger mentioned the prospect of coming to Fox, and by summer, he had me over to meet with his news executives about coming to the channel and working with the doc[umentary] unit (I’d done a bunch of Frontlines over the years). I said, Hell, yes, and haven’t looked back. It’s been great fun.”
TWENTY-TWO: THE LAST CAMPAIGN
1. On Monday afternoon, March 28 Sherman, “The Elephant in the Green Room.”
2. “You’ve got to be crazy” Author interview with a person familiar with the meeting.
3. “Let’s make a deal” Sherman, “The Elephant in the Green Room.”
4. In early 2009 Author interview with a person familiar with the matter.
5. Things took a turn Kate Zernike and Carl Hulse, “At the Lincoln Memorial, a Call for Religious Rebirth,” New York Times, Aug. 29, 2010.
6. “I’m going to D.C.” Author interview with a person familiar with the matter.
7. Ailes praised Beck Author interview with a person familiar with the matter.
8. Brian Lewis Author interview with a former Fox News producer.
9. Beck, who had graced the covers Lacey Rose, “Glenn Beck Inc.,” Forbes, April 26, 2010; David von Drehle, “Mad Man: Is Glenn Beck Bad for America?,” Time, Sept. 28, 2009; Mark Leibovich, “Being Glenn Beck,” New York Times Magazine, Sept. 29, 2010.
10. “Beck had his own” Mercury Radio Arts employed Manhattan PR firm Hiltzik Strategies.
11. Tensions continued Steve Kraukauer, “Exclusive: Glenn Beck Launches ‘News and Opinion’ Website, The Blaze,” Mediaite, Aug. 30, 2010, http://www.mediaite.com/online/exclusive-glenn-beck-launches-news-and-opinion-website-the-blaze-tonight/.
12. Fox executives told Author interview with a person familiar with the matter.
13. At times, The Blaze Emily Esfahani Smith, “Ends vs. Means: The Ethics of Undercover Journalism,” The Blaze, March 9, 2011. See also Sherman, “The Elephant in the Green Room.”
14. Beck’s company Bill Carter, “Former Huffington Post Chief Is Hired to Run Glenn Beck Site,” New York Times, Jan. 6, 2011. See also David Bauder, “Glenn Beck’s Fox Show Ending,” Associated Press, April 7, 2011.
15. Brian Lewis retaliated Nellie Andreeva, “Glenn Beck’s Exec Expected to Leave Fox News,” Deadline Hollywood, March 21, 2011, http://www.deadline.com/2011/03/Glenn-Beck
s-exec-to-leave-fox-news/.
16. Reporters began Scott Collins and Melissa Maerz, “Fox Gives Beck Show the Boot,” Los Angeles Times, April 7, 2011. See also Robert Quigley, “Advertisers Wimp Out: ‘Boycott’ Glenn Beck, but Stay on Fox News,” Mediaite, Aug. 11, 2009, http://www.mediaite.com/tv/advertisers-wimp-out-boycott-glenn-beck-but-stay-on-fox-news/.
17. On April 6 Collins and Maerz, “Fox Gives Beck’s Show the Boot.”
18. When the Affordable Author interview with a senior producer.
19. In the summer of 2010 Sherman, “The Elephant in the Green Room.”
20. “I still like” Jonathan Alter, The Center Holds: Obama and His Enemies (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2013), 179.
21. In April 2011 Bob Woodward, “Fox Chief Proposed Petraeus Campaign,” Washington Post, Dec. 4, 2012. See also “Petraeus in 2011 Fox News Interview: ‘I’m Not Running for President’ ” (audio), Washington Post, Dec. 3, 2012, http://www.washingtonpost.com/posttv/lifestyle/style/petraeus-in-2011-fox-news-interview-im-not-running-for-president/2012/12/03/c0aa0c72-3d6d-11e2-a2d9-822f58ac9fd5_video.html. Ailes told Woodward that his outreach to Petraeus was “a joke.” The day Woodward’s article appeared, McFarland wrote a column on Foxnews.com taking the blame for the scandal. “I know now that Roger was joking, but at the time, I wasn’t sure,” she wrote. According to a close McFarland friend, she wrote it under pressure from Ailes after she was banned from Fox shows. Ailes’s remark “was not a joke,” the friend said. “She was devastated by it.”
22. “He adored Petraeus” Author interview with a senior executive at Fox News. See also Jake Tapper, “MoveOn.org Ad Takes Aim at Petraeus,” ABCNews (blog), Sept. 10, 2007, http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/Decision2008/Story?ID=3581727.
23. Around this time Author interview with a person familiar with the matter. A spokeswoman for the Kochs said that Charles Koch did not fly to New York. “A third party suggested a meeting but it was never scheduled,” she said.
24. “Listen, the premise” Author conversation with Roger Ailes.
25. In the winter of 2011 Author interview with a person familiar with the matter.
26. The first Fox primary debate Karen Tumulty, “Stage Set for First GOP Debate. So Where Are the Candidates?,” Washington Post, May 5, 2011.