You can’t call Fox News “fair and balanced” anymore… because they’re not calling themselves that anymore.
The cable news network is dropping its famous “Fair & Balanced” marketing slogan, according to New York Magazine —
a slogan that’s been an integral part of Fox News since the channel
debuted in 1996. The motto was an invention of late founder/chairman
Roger Ailes, who resigned last year after a series of sexual-harassment
allegations. Fox will reportedly rely on its other tagline going
forward: “Most Watched. Most Trusted.”
The “Fair & Balanced” moniker was a controversial one, viewed by
some as a way for the conservative-leaning news channel to feign
editorial objectivity. (NY Mag‘s Gabriel Sherman calls it an
example of “Ailes’ cynical genius at its most successful.”) But Ailes
insisted it was a necessary guideline to fight the tide of a largely
liberal media. “He would say, ‘The news is like a ship. If you take
hands off the wheel, it pulls hard to the left,'” a Fox News senior
producer remembers.
The move is the latest sign that Fox News is
busy rebuilding its identity in the wake of Ailes’ departure, along with
the high-profile exits of anchors Megyn Kelly (who left to join NBC
News) and Bill O’Reilly (who was fired following his own
sexual-harassment scandal).
