The Loudest Voice in the Room: How the Brilliant, Bombastic Roger Ailes Built Fox News--And Divided a Country (82 page)

  
88.
As Clinton’s presidency
Josef Adalian and Richard Katz, “Presidents Day: Clinton Speech, TBS Pic Spike Cable Ratings,”
Daily Variety
, Aug. 19, 1998.

  
89.
“It’s all popping”
Matt Drudge,
Hannity & Colmes
, Fox News Channel, Aug. 17, 1998.

  
90.
“Which of the following”
Fox News Sunday
, Fox News Channel, Feb. 1, 1998.

  
91.
“What is President Clinton more thankful for”
Special Report with Brit Hume
, Fox News Channel, Nov. 26, 1998.

  
92.
In April 1998
Hannity & Colmes
, Fox News Channel, April 1, 1998.

  
93.
In another report
Rita Cosby,
Special Report with Brit Hume
, Fox News Channel, March 10, 1998.

  
94.
Some Fox viewers
Joe Muto,
An Atheist in the FOXhole: A Liberal’s Eight-Year Odyssey Inside the Heart of the Right-Wing Media
(New York: Dutton, 2013), 26.

  
95.
David Shuster was no longer
Author interview with David Shuster.

  
96.
But Mort Kondracke
Mort Kondracke,
Special Report with Brit Hume
, Fox News Channel, Sept. 4, 1998.

  
97.
“There was initially”
Author interview with former Fox producer and media consultant Steve Hirsh.

  
98.
“We would hear”
Author interview with David Shuster.

  
99.
“I’m very interested in conflict resolution”
Ed Bark, “Fox Joins the Hunt in TV News,”
Dallas Morning News
, Oct. 6, 1996.

100.
“He had admiration”
Author interview with a former Fox producer.

101.
Crier found the
Author interview with Catherine Crier.

102.
An Irish Catholic
Sean Hannity,
Let Freedom Ring: Winning the War of Liberty over Liberalism
(New York: HarperCollins, 2002), 47.

103.
Radio personalities like
Ibid.

104.
He tried college three times
Sean Hannity,
Hannity
, Fox News Channel, Oct. 4, 2013.

105.
By the late 1980s
Christopher H. Sterling, ed.,
Biographical Encyclopedia of American Radio
(New York: Routledge, 2011), 164.

106.
In his spare time
Ibid.

107.
Though he was not a student
Marta Ulveaus, “Revisiting Sean Hannity: Audio/Podcast from KCSB’s ’50 Years of People Powered Radio,’ ”
KCSB.org
, Dec. 22, 2011,
http://www.kcsb.org/blog/2011/12/22/revisiting-sean-hannity-audiopodcast/
(mp3 audio of the retrospective radio broadcast).

108.
In April 1989
Ibid.

109.
A Lutheran minister
Jean Latz Griffin, “McHenry Coroner’s AIDS Warning Ripped,”
Chicago Tribune
, March 13, 1987.

110.
He wrote that
See Gene Antonio,
The AIDS Cover-Up?: The Real and Alarming Facts About AIDS
(San Francisco: Ignatius, 1986), 71, 113.

111.
At the opening of
The complete archived audio of Sean Hannity’s interview with Gene Antonio can be found at
http://www.kcsb.org/blog/2011/12/22/revisiting-sean-hannity-audiopodcast/
.

112.
Hannity played the victim
Steve Rendall, “An Aggressive Conservative vs. a ‘Liberal to Be Determined,’ ”
Extra!
, Nov. 1, 2003.

113.
After applying for
Sterling,
Biographical Encyclopedia of American Radio
, 164.

114.
His bio
Rendall, “An Aggressive Conservative vs. a ‘Liberal to Be Determined.’ ”

115.
In an interview
Peter Goodman, “Radio Waves: Out of Nowhere to No. 5 on the Charts,”
Newsday
, July 12, 1999.

116.
Each morning, a producer
Author interview with a former Fox producer.

117.
“There was a real”
Author interview with a former Fox producer.

118.
“I had higher-ups”
Author interview with former Fox producer Rachel Katzman.

119.
“John Moody would call”
Author interview with former Fox producer Jordan Kurzweil.

120.
“What is the crime”
Author interview with a former Fox producer.

121.
“If you come out”
James Endrst, “Fox News Pursues Balance, Boldness; Nervy Network Elbows Way into Crowded Cable Lineup,”
Hartford Courant
, Aug. 5, 1998.

122.
“There’d been four failures”
Marshall Sella, “The Red-State Network,”
New York Times
, June 24, 2001.

123.
Two decades later
Alex Chadwick,
Morning Edition
, NPR, Feb. 7, 1995.

124.
Brian Lewis and the PR operation
Author interview with sources familiar with the matter.

125.
By the winter of 1999
Paula Bernstein, “Fox, MSNBC, CNN Score for Iowa Coverage,”
Daily Variety
, Jan. 27, 2000.

126.
nine million more homes
Felicity Barringer, “Networks to Cover Primaries in Force,”
New York Times
, March 7, 2000.

127.
But in February
Alison Mitchell, “The President’s Acquittal: The Overview; Clinton Acquitted Decisively: No Majority for Either Charge,”
New York Times
, Feb. 13, 1999.

128.
The news cycle was favoring
Author interview with a former Fox producer.

129.
During the conflict’s opening days
Gary Levin, “War Is a Ratings Boost, to Second, for MSNBC,”
USA Today
, April 6, 1999.

130.
One afternoon
Author interview with a Fox producer.

131.
In January 1999, Ailes poached
John Dempsey, “Fox Steals Zahn for News,”
Daily Variety
, Jan. 22, 1999.

132.
He moved Zahn to 10:00
Jon Lafayette, “Shepard Smith’s No Talking Head; ‘Fox Report’ Anchor Brings His Own Set of Rules to the Chair,”
Electronic Media
, Oct. 25, 1999.

133.
“Put Shep in front”
Author interview with a former Fox producer.

134.
began dating Julia Rolle
Author interview with Julia Rolle’s father, Gene Rolle.

135.
He was known to explode
Author interview with a former Fox producer.

136.
To produce his show
Author interviews with current and former Fox employees.

137.
On one of his early shows
Author interview with a Fox producer.

138.
In November 1999
“All TV,”
Newark Star-Ledger
, Nov. 17, 1999.

139.
Drudge wanted
“This Morning,”
The Hotline
, Nov. 17, 1999.

140.
The messy episode
Howard Kurtz, “The Going Gets Tough, and Matt Drudge Gets Going,”
Washington Post
, Nov. 15, 1999; Gail Shister, “War of Words Continues Between Matt Drudge and Fox News Channel,”
Philadelphia Inquirer
, Nov. 18, 1999.

141.
Drudge agreed to cancel
Paula Bernstein, “Fox News, Drudge Reach Accord as ’Net Wag Exits,”
Daily Variety
, Nov. 19, 1999.

142.
“The network cannot live”
Shister, “War of Words Continues Between Matt Drudge and Fox News Channel.”

    
1.
As Americans made
John Ellis, “A Hard Day’s Night,”
Inside
, Dec. 26, 2000.

    
2.
A confidant of
Bill Carter, “Counting the Vote: The Fox Executive; Calling the Presidential Race, and Cousin George W.,”
New York Times
, Nov. 14, 2000.

    
3.
In an hour
Ed Bark, “Fox Prepares for First Foray into Covering Election Night; Network’s News Channel Will Conduct Bulk of Reporting,”
Dallas Morning News
, June 30, 2000.

    
4.
For the conservatives
Ellis, “A Hard Day’s Night.”

    
5.
Democratic presidential candidate
Ibid.

    
6.
For weeks, the consensus
Marjorie Menzel, “Candidates Target Florida,”
Florida Today
, Aug. 7, 2000.

    
7.
The electoral math was such
Ellis, “A Hard Day’s Night.”

    
8.
After the briefing
Ibid.

    
9.
In 1978, as his uncle
John Ellis, LinkedIn profile,
www.linkedin.com/pub/john-ellis/5/ba2/5a7
, accessed July 29, 2013.

  
10.
In 1993
John Ellis, “Thank You for Reading,”
Boston Globe
, July 29, 1999.

  
11.
“Looking back over”
John Ellis, “Dangerous Lies,”
Boston Globe
, May 27, 1999.

  
12.
“Loyalty supersedes candor”
John Ellis, “Why I Won’t Write Any More About the 2000 Campaign,”
Boston Globe
, July 3, 1999.

  
13.
Three weeks later
Ellis, “Thank You for Reading.”

  
14.
“We at Fox News”
Roger Ailes, House of Representatives, Hearing Before the Committee on Energy and Commerce, 107th Congress, statement of Roger Ailes (Feb. 14, 2001).

  
15.
“I wouldn’t worry about early numbers”
Ellis, “A Hard Day’s Night.”

  
16.
“I have no idea”
Ibid.

  
17.
Ailes was waiting
Ibid.

  
18.
before venturing over
Author interviews with former Fox executives and producers.

  
19.
“What’s your gut say?”
Jane Mayer, “George W.’s Cousin,”
New Yorker
, Nov. 20, 2000.

  
20.
While Ellis certainly possessed
Author interview with a former Ailes Communications staffer.

  
21.
“From what Ellis says”
David W. Moore,
How to Steal an Election
(New York: Nation Books, 2006), 58.

  
22.
They included
Patricia Sullivan, “Fox News Pollster John Gorman; Did Research
for Carter, McGovern,”
Washington Post
, Feb. 18, 2008; Arnon Mishkin,
LinkedIn.com
profile,
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/arnon-mishkin/1/359/515
; author interview with statistician Cynthia Talkov.

  
23.
Fox News received
Alicia C. Shepard, “How They Blew It,”
American Journalism Review
, Jan./Feb. 2001. See also Moore,
How to Steal an Election
, 31; Murray Dubin, “The Group Behind the Numbers: Voter News Service Does Exit Polls and Provides the Data to News Operations,”
Philadelphia Inquirer
, Nov. 9, 2000.

  
24.
Although the networks
Moore,
How to Steal an Election
, 32.

  
25.
Cynthia Talkov
Ellis, “A Hard Day’s Night”; author interview with Cynthia Talkov. See also Adam Clymer, “Warren J. Mitofsky, 71, Innovator Who Devised Exit Poll, Dies,”
New York Times
, Sept. 4, 2006.

  
26.
“They didn’t understand”
Author interview with Cynthia Talkov.

  
27.
As a last resort
Moore,
How to Steal an Election
, 52.

  
28.
“My God, you were right!”
Ibid., 53.

  
29.
Ellis, Edelman later recalled
Ibid.

  
30.
“I enjoy crunching numbers”
Author interview with Cynthia Talkov.

  
31.
“I was brought up”
Ibid.

  
32.
When Ellis stepped away
Moore,
How to Steal an Election
, 53; author interview with Cynthia Talkov.

  
33.
Talkov was incredulous
Author interview with Cynthia Talkov.

  
34.
When Ellis got back
Ibid.

  
35.
The new data stream
Ellis, “A Hard Day’s Night.”

  
36.
the state that had elected
Jane Prendergast, “Ohio’s Ultra-Bellwethers: What Do They Foretell,”
Cincinnati Enquirer
, July 22, 2012.

  
37.
At 7:50
Shepard, “How They Blew It.”

  
38.
At 7:49
Bill Sammon,
At Any Cost: How Al Gore Tried to Steal the Election
(Washington, D.C.: Regnery, 2001), 36.

  
39.
“We’re going to now project”
Tom Brokaw,
NBC Nightly News
, NBC, Nov. 7, 2000.

  
40.
Thirty-one seconds later
Linda Mason, Kathleen Frankovic, and Kathleen Hall Jamieson, “CBS News Coverage of Election Night 2000: Investigation, Analysis, Recommendations,” report prepared for CBS News, Jan. 2001, 12.

  
41.
CNN echoed
Shepard, “How They Blew It.”

  
42.
It was up to Moody
Ellis, “A Hard Day’s Night”; author interview with a senior Fox executive.

  
43.
Ellis polled his team
Ellis, “A Hard Day’s Night.”

  
44.
At 7:52
Mason et al., “CBS News Coverage of Election Night 2000,” 12.

  
45.
The polls had yet to close
Florida Division of Elections, “Reports by the Division of Elections,”
http://election.dos.state.fl.us/reports/
.

  
46.
Bush’s senior strategist
Evan Thomas, “What a Long, Strange Trip,”
Newsweek
, Nov. 20, 2000; Jake Tapper,
Down & Dirty: The Plot to Steal the Presidency
(Boston: Little, Brown, 2001), 28.

  
47.
“Jeb, I’m sorry”
Ellis, “A Hard Day’s Night.”

  
48.
Ten minutes after
Mason et al., “CBS News Coverage of Election Night 2000,” 12.

  
49.
Ailes sat in a plush
Author interview with a person who was present.

  
50.
At 9:00 p.m
. Ibid.

  
51.
Ellis was now virtually certain
Ellis, “A Hard Day’s Night.”

  
52.
“I think Americans oughta wait”
Tapper,
Down & Dirty
, 28.

  
53.
“Can you guys take a look”
Ellis, “A Hard Day’s Night.”

  
54.
A message flashed
Author interview with Cynthia Talkov.

  
55.
“We are canceling the vote”
Moore,
How to Steal an Election
, 36.

  
56.
It turned out that a VNS employee
Tapper,
Down & Dirty
, 30.

  
57.
The VNS screen showed
Ellis, “A Hard Day’s Night.”

  
58.
At 10:23
Mason et al., “CBS News Coverage of Election Night 2000,” 12.

  
59.
In the Sports Suite
Author interview with a former Fox executive.

  
60.
Ellis later recalled
Ellis, “A Hard Day’s Night.”

  
61.
In a first-person account
Ibid.

  
62.
“What do you think?”
Ibid.

  
63.
“Any reason not to call Bush in Florida?”
Ibid.

  
64.
The analysts still wanted more time
Ibid.

  
65.
“John, based on these numbers”
Collins,
Crazy Like a Fox
, 147.

  
66.
Ailes, who had left Fox
Author interview with a former senior Fox executive.

  
67.
At 2:07 a.m
. Moore,
How to Steal an Election
, 41.

  
68.
Cynthia Talkov, who was sitting
Ibid., 58; author interview with Cynthia Talkov.

  
69.
Nor did he discuss
Moore,
How to Steal an Election
, 58; Ellis, “A Hard Day’s Night.” In an email, Ellis disputed Talkov’s account, asserting he did check the “need/get” ratios. “You cannot run an election night decision desk without constantly and frantically checking the VNS monitors. That’s pretty much all you do, all night.… Need/get is the sine qua non of calling elections. You don’t call winners; you determine that one or the other of the candidates cannot win. When elections are close, that determination is arrived at by need/get. Everyone on an Election Night Decision Desk (any Election Night Decision Desk) works off of ‘need/get.’ ”

  
70.
Around 2:10 a.m
. Author interview with Cynthia Talkov.

  
71.
“Jebbie says we got it!”
Moore,
How to Steal an Election
, 59.

  
72.
No other network
Mason et al., “CBS News Coverage of Election Night 2000,” 12.

  
73.
This time, no one expressed objections
Moore,
How to Steal an Election
, 59.

  
74.
Talkov would later be haunted
Author interview with Cynthia Talkov.

  
75.
“At the time”
Ibid.

  
76.
“Let me introduce you”
Author interview with a person familiar with the matter.

  
77.
“We’re gonna call it”
Author interview with a person familiar with the matter.

  
78.
At 2:16 a.m
. Brit Hume,
Special Report with Brit Hume
, Fox News Channel, Nov. 7, 2000; footage of Fox’s coverage can be found on YouTube at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJIGQyF2Yjo
, accessed Aug. 13, 2013.

  
79.
Confusion reigned
Thomas, “What a Long, Strange Trip.”

  
80.
“It’s just Fox”
Tapper,
Down & Dirty
, 32.

  
81.
“Is this going to be”
Thomas, “What a Long, Strange Trip.”

  
82.
At NBC News
Ibid., 72.

  
83.
Around midnight, Jack Welch
Author interview with a person present that evening.

  
84.
“Gotta go”
Ibid.

  
85.
Tom Brokaw made the announcement
Mason et al., “CBS News Coverage of Election Night 2000,” 12.

  
86.
Twenty-two seconds
Ibid.

  
87.
“That’s it”
Dan Rather,
CBS News Election Night
, CBS, Nov. 8, 2000.

  
88.
CNN called it
Mason et al., “CBS News Coverage of Election Night 2000,” 12.

  
89.
Only the AP
Moore,
How to Steal an Election
, 83.

  
90.
Bush reveled in
Ellis, “A Hard Day’s Night.”

  
91.
At 2:48 a.m
. Moore,
How to Steal an Election
, 43.

  
92.
Twenty minutes later
Ibid., 43.

  
93.
Gore was already
Thomas, “What a Long, Strange Trip.”

  
94.
Campaign aides frantically
Ibid.

  
95.
At 3:27 a.m
. Ellis, “A Hard Day’s Night.”

  
96.
“Florida—the Sec of State Web site”
Moore,
How to Steal an Election
, 44.

  
97.
Ellis called Moody over
Collins,
Crazy Like a Fox
, 148.

  
98.
“You gotta be kidding me”
Tapper,
Down & Dirty
, 37.

  
99.
“Gore unconceded”
Ellis, “A Hard Day’s Night.”

100.
At 3:57 a.m
. Mason et al., “CBS News Coverage of Election Night 2000,” 12.

101.
Fox News, the first
Ibid.

102.
Brit Hume made
Ibid.

103.
Talkov was concerned
Author interview with Cynthia Talkov.

104.
For the next thirty-three days
See, e.g., Sean Hannity,
Hannity & Colmes
, Fox News Channel, Dec. 4, 2000 (“now there’s an effort out there to delegitimize the Bush presidency, which is now inevitable.”); Brit Hume, Mort Kondracke, Fred Barnes, Mara Liasson,
Special Report with Brit Hume
, Fox News Channel, Dec. 4, 2000; Sean Hannity,
Hannity & Colmes
, Fox News Channel, Nov. 26, 2000 (“At the end of the day, George W. Bush is the president-elect, right now,” Anthony Weiner: “Have you ever said that Al Gore’s trying to steal the election?” Sean Hannity: “He is.”)