Roger Ailes is Dead

[Jackie]

Roger Ailes was, as are most of us, a complicated person; he did not present a neat package and he had ethical failings. He was at the same time kind and considerate and encouraging, while being a sexual predator with some women.  He was a journalistic genius and a political influence and he was flawed in his relationships with women, even women he respected for their journalistic achievements.

He did whatever it took in a "take no prisoners way" to allow a conservative news alternative to flourish at a time when there were no conservative news outlets...and he did it well.  Before the internet's social media fully came into its own, the country was allowed to share a different viewpoint and the media no longer had a firm grasp on what the country knew about and how they thought about it.  The media lost control of the people and the Progressives suffered from it.

You may think that his work and his news outlet divided the nation and ruined its national opinion, but the nation has never been united in its viewpoint and opinion; the media just did not represent the other side, which they wished would sit down and shut up forever more and allow what was happening in the country of which they approved whole-heartedly, to just happen.  

There is no such thing as one national viewpoint and opinion and the internet has set free the way people learn about ...everything, but especially current events.  The majority in America has been of a conservative bent and Roger Ailes represented that majority for the nation via Fox News.  

Freethinkers should welcome more informational outlets and more viewpoints, not fewer.   That is part of what "democracy" is all about.

His sexual predation was despicable and deserving of scorn and prosecution and it seems often to be a flaw held by men of power, whether they do good or do evil.  It is an act of exerting power.  It does not negate his other accomplishments or his other actions even though it tarnishes the man.

Not everyone agrees with the previous statements made here and of course those who posted know this.  A sense of humanism requires that we not ignore our own flaws as we condemn a man who was much more than just his flawed behavior.  We are all much more than just our flaws and we know well that power has a way of bringing out the flaws of those who achieve it.

-Jeanne

Roger was a narcissist and only cared about ratings. He was to journalism what Pravda was to Russia. 

He created a fear mongering network, not a news organization. He is nothing western journalists should be proud of or aspire to be. I am glad that fucker is gone. It is one thing to value different views, but that is not what he was about. He ran a propaganda network.