Fox News' Tucker Carlson Accused of Anti-Immigration and Racist Comments (2020)

Fox News Logo

Controversy

   In June 2020, Tucker Carlson, from Fox News, went on air and made many comments pertaining to the racial injustice that the country of the United States has experienced throughout the year including, “This may be a lot of things, this moment we are living through, but it is definitely not about black lives, and remember that when they come for you. And at this rate, they will.” This statement was particularly prompted by the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis the moth prior. 

Due to the insensitivity presented by Mr. Carlson, a number of companies backed away from airing commercials for Fox. These companies include Walt Disney, Papa John’s and Poshmark. Each of these large companies released statements in which touched on their moral expectations.  Poshmark was the first major company to come out stating, “We do not agree with the comments he made on his show and stand in solidarity with those who seek to advance racial justice and equality.” 

After harsh criticisms, Mr. Carlson began to speak harshly about the unrest, urging a more severe crackdown on protests. In one segment he stated, that these actions could be “inappropriate or offensive to some audiences.” He then scolded the Vice President and President for having “scolded America for its racism” and that “people will not forgive weakness.” According to Fox news, none of these incidences have caused a suffer in finances. Viewing continued to stay up and a campaign began titled #IStandWithTucker. While multiple companies retreated form supporting Fox News and Tucker Carlson a great number stayed involved with Carlson’s segment including the gun rights personality Dana Loesch and MyPillow, who is run by a major supporter of Mr. Trump. 

Discriminatory remarks towards the black and brown community were not the only aired on live television. Tucker Carlson severely attacked immigrants stating they have long “plundered” American taxpayers and have an taken unfair advantage of government benefits. “The American piñata has been getting pummeled for decades and now it has finally come apart…Our national wealth is up for grabs by whomever gets here first, and they are coming.” Carlson also claimed that undocumented immigrants are sending billions of dollars they earn in the US back to family members in their native countries, while simultaneously benefiting from “free healthcare, free education, subsidized housing, and food stamps.” 

            Within the United States it is well known that undocumented immigrants cannot legally receive food stamps, live in subsidized housing, or receive government health insurance, but they are permitted to attend public schools and get medical treatment in emergencies. Therefore, Mr. Carlson’s remarks were completing off-base and uncalled for. Carlson then continued and argued that the “crisis” could be easily fixed with a series of government actions that include building a wall across the US-Mexico border, expanding employee verification system, and efficiently deporting undocumented immigrants. Carlson then claimed that these actions will most likely not occur because our congressional leaders are “decadent and narcissistic” and unwilling to defend our nation. 

Tucker Carlson has had a past of having outrage towards immigrants as well as the black and brown community. In previous years he has stated that immigrants make the US “poorer and dirtier.” “Our leaders demand that you shut up and accept this. We have a moral obligation to admit the world’s poor, they tell us even if it makes our own country poor and dirtier and more divided.” In the year 2019, Tucker Carlson addressed a subject on air after the multiple mass shootings within the United States claiming that white supremacy is “not a real problem.” He has stated “This is a hoax. Just like the Russia hoax, it’s a conspiracy theory used to divide the country and keep a hold on power.” He also argued that President Donald Trump’s condemnation of white supremacy was unnecessary because the number of people who are members of the white supremacist groups in the U.S. could “fit inside a football stadium.” According to the NCAA, the country’s largest college football stadiums hold about 100,000 people. It is also “extremely difficult” to track hate groups claims Bob Hopkinson, a spokesman for southern Poverty Law Center-tracks hate groups. These groups tend to stay very quiet about their membership but is it known that there are more than 300,000 people registered as users on the oldest hate site, Stormfront, and that number doubled when President Obama was in office. According to the FBI, domestic terrorism is increasingly motivated by white supremacist ideology. 

            Throughout the years, multiple lawsuits have been presented towards Fox news due to their insensitivity towards many groups of individuals. These allegations consist of sexual assault, sexual misconduct towards women, as well as many instances of child pornography. Of course, it is very difficult to convict an individual of a hate crime when the words that are being released are not actions but rather opinions towards certain situations or groups of people. Soon after these comments were made, Mr. Carlson released a statement that claimed he would be taking a much-needed vacation. Fox News took no initiative in reprimanding Tucker Carlson but instead insisted on vacation time, which he was paid for.  After this information was released, Fox News posted a blog apologizing for the statements that were made and claimed that there were consequences towards what had occurred on live television. Mr. Carlson’s writer was fired immediately and yet another document was released on all the positive effects Fox News has had on minorities, specifically immigrants and the black and brown community. 

Stakeholders

  The stakeholders within the Fox News and Tucker Carlson case consist of Tucker Carlson, the CEO of Fox News, Suzanne Scott, as well as the many higher ups who have a say on what is considered consequential. Those who have been affected by the actions of both Mr. Carlson and Fox News are member of the black and brown communities, immigrants, and any individual who found the actions and words of Tucker Carlson offensive and the lack of consequential action towards the situation. 

Individualism

The individualist theory is a major ethical theory that mainly focuses on maximizing profit for stakeholders while attempting to not break the law. From an individualist perspective, the case of Tucker Carlson and Fox News is indeed considered ethical. While Mr. Carlson made some very insensitive and discriminatory comments towards certain groups, he did not break the law in any way. Freedom of speech and opinion within the country of the United States is acceptable. Fox News also did not break the law. Although they did not implement harsh consequences towards Mr. Carlson and presented a great amount of selfishness, ethically, according to individualist, no harm has been done. 

Utilitarianism

Utilitarianism consist of maximizing happiness for all. Both the actions of Tucker Carlson and Fox News would be considered unethical in the eyes of a utilitarianism theorist. Mr. Carlson, very clearly, only cared about his opinion rather than how his words might affect others. As for Fox News they did not take the necessary steps to make sure that this incident does not happen again. Instead of firing Mr. Carlson, they simply fired his writer and recommended that he take time off for a vacation. While both did apologize for what had occurred, Fox News and their news anchors have had a consistent history of offending other with their comments and not making change within the company.

 Kantianism 

Kantianism consists of making rational decisions in a form of good will. The controversy of Fox News and Tucker Carlson would be considered unethical in the perspective of a Kantian. Fox News completely abused their power in this situation. Instead of doing the right things and firing Mr. Carlson for his actions, the company insisted that he take time away from his show by going on a vacation. Of course, Mr. Carlson agreed to this, therefore, also abusing his power. Instead of taking ownership of his actions and facing the realistic consequences he chose to ignore it and run from it. The formula of humanity is where an individual or individuals treat people as a means rather than an end. This means that each and every person is treated with value. The actions performed by both Fox News and Tucker Carlson prove that they only cared for themselves and treated others as though they were an end not a means. A person or people that hold the positions that these individuals do within the controversy should be attempting to set an example for those who are watching. 

Virtue Theory 

The four main principles of virtue theory are courage, honesty, self-control and fairness. If a virtue theorist were to take a look at the Tucker Carlson and Fox News controversy, they would easily consider it to be unethical. Both Fox News and Mr. Carlson did not show any courage. They only came out with statements apologizing due to the immense amount of hate they were receiving from some audience members and other companies. Honestly was also not presented. Fox News released a statement that claimed their company has done a great amount for minority groups. Many of these actions are focused on certain individuals employed by the company and are completely made-up. Tucker Carlson showed no form of self-control. He very blatantly made the remarks that he did without thinking of the affects his words had on specific individuals. Fox News also consistently shows no self-control as situations very similar to this one continuously occurs. Fairness was also not properly presented. Fox News easily could have made sure that Tucker Carlson was fired for his unacceptable actions. Instead he was given paid vacation time. 

Tucker Carlson 

Evaluation

After completing the research on the controversy, I have very mixed feeling about the case. First and foremost, I personally believe that the incident is extremely unethical. Tucker Carlson simply should have been fired from his position as well as the many other employees who have made similar mistakes. Fox News is very clearly managed poorly. While it is important for news anchors to be passionate about the information that they are putting out to the world, they must make sure that what is being presented is factual information that considers the human values of every individual no matter who they are.  

Action Plan 

 Fox News should attempt to rebuild. While their company is still doing well, they could potentially be doing even better if a significant amount of changes were made. First and foremost, all individuals who have a history of any type of misconduct towards an individual or within the workplace should be removed immediately. Individuals such as Tucker Carlson who have shown a lack of morals and sensitivity should also be released of their duties. These actions could potentially allow for companies who previously refused to advertise for Fox to come back. Therefore, revenue would continue to increase. After this, Fox News needs to publicly apologize for all the hurt that has been cause not only by Tucker Carlson but by the many individuals over the years. They need to own up to what has happened and not hide away from it by attempting to convince the public that they have not made mistakes. Fox News must create a new identity. Of course, their politics can and will remain the same, but changes must be made in order to gain the trust of the public back. In the future, if any instance relating to what had previously occurred come about, immediate and consistent action much be implemented. Of course, it will take a great amount of time for certain groups and individuals to regain trust. Fox News must prove that customer satisfaction is their number one priority. If successful, profit is will increase immensely. 

References:

Hsu, T. (2020, June 12). Fox News Host Tucker Carlson Loses More Advertisers. Retrieved November 11, 2020, from https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/12/business/media/tucker-carlson-fox-news-advertisers.html

Relman, E. (2019, May 22). Tucker Carlson says immigrants have 'plundered' the US and want to steal Americans' wealth. Retrieved November 11, 2020, from https://www.businessinsider.com/tucker-carlson-says-immigrants-have-plundered-the-us-2019-5

Rodriguez, A. (2019, August 08). Fox News host Tucker Carlson says white supremacy is 'not a real problem in America'. Retrieved November 11, 2020, from https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2019/08/07/fox-host-tucker-carlson-white-supremacy-not-real-problem-america/1941585001/

Rueb, E., & Taylor, D. (2019, August 08). Tucker Carlson of Fox Falsely Calls White Supremacy a 'Hoax'. Retrieved November 11, 2020, from https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/08/business/media/tucker-carlson-white-supremacy.html

Murdock, D. (2020, August 28). Deroy Murdock: Trump and racism – Republican Convention's answer to this big lie. Retrieved November 11, 2020, from https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/trump-racism-repubican-convention-answer-lie-deroy-murdock

Ember, S. (2017, April 25). 11 Sue Fox News, Citing 'Intolerable' Racial Bias. Retrieved November 11, 2020, from https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/25/business/media/fox-news-racial-discrimination-lawsuit.html

Cranley, E. (2019, September 27). All the most controversial things Fox News host Tucker Carlson has said over the years. Retrieved November 11, 2020, from https://www.businessinsider.com/tucker-carlson-controversies-comments-immigrants-women-fox-news-2019-3

 

 

 

 

Fox: Fox and Tucker Carlson Racist and Sexist Remarks (July 2020)

Abstract:

            Tucker Carlson, a host of Fox’s News’ political show ‘Tucker Carlson Tonight’ has been accused of making various racist and sexist remarks since 2006. His top writer, who produced the scripts every night for his show was recently fired from Fox news as dehumanizing comments made by him were found on a forum via a CNN investigation.  Fox News has had a lengthy history with their news anchors and employees making controversial comments in the past. These offensive comments and actions have led to many PR-nightmare’s over the years for Fox.

Fox News Logo

            This paper will dive into the various controversies Fox News has been through over the recent years, and ethically analyze the situations. The analysis will be in the scope of Individualism, Utilitarianism, Kantianism, and Virtue Theory. An individualist would hold Fox accountable for hurting the company's ability to achieve maximum profit. Utilitarian’s would consider this situation a failure because it made everyone disappointed, and sad, which is the exact opposite of the goal of utilitarianism: to maximize happiness for all beings. A Kantian analysis of this controversy would show that Tucker Carlson’s comments were not ethically permissible, as they treated their viewers as a mere means opposed to as an end. Finally, virtue theory would criticize the lack of empathy, accountability, and character from all employees, and owners of Fox News.

 

Background:

Fox News is an American political news television channel that was launched in 1996, under Fox entertainment group. Ever since their launch they have been a top news channel, with various shows of political commentators giving their opinions on the countries burning topics and daily headlines. In 2016, shortly after Donald Trump won the presidential election, Fox News hired a news anchor, Tucker Carlson, to host his very own show on the weeknights.

Born May 16, 1969, 51-year-old Tucker Carlson is an American political commentator, best known for his conservative views and nightly television show “Tucker Carlson Tonight” on Fox News. As of 2020, his show is the most-watched cable news show in the United States.

The Case:

Tucker Carlson’s top writer Blake Neff, resigned after racist and sexist comments he made were uncovered by CNN. Neff was known to be Carlson’s best writer at Fox, and was with the company from the time that the show started until his resignation in July of 2020. On top of writing for Tucker Carlson, he also was a “WarGaming Subject Matter Expert'' for the Marine Corps College since October of 2016. The controversy arose after a CNN lead investigation found that Blake Neff was using a pseudonym on a
public forum to post racist, sexist, misogynistic, and homophobic remarks.

The comments posted by Neff date back to over 5 years ago, and were consistent until the day of his resignation. With the discovery of the posts, and the resignation from Fox, the Marine Corps College immediately cut ties with Neff stating, “We immediately removed Mr. Neff from the list of experts who support our educational wargaming program. Mr. Neff's language and behavior do not represent Marine Corps University or the United States Marine Corps.” The situation resulted in heavy scrutiny for Fox, with viewers and critics wondering how they can have such demeaning and degrading comments come from a top writer for the #1 news broadcast in the country. The audience was put on edge even further after Tucker Carlson attempted to clear the air at the start of one of his shows. Carlson stated, “What Blake wrote anonymously was wrong, we don’t endorse those words, they have no connection to the show. It is wrong to attack people for qualities they cannot control...” Tucker then went on and directly attacked the critics of the show stating “self-righteousness also has its costs” in reference to all the people happy that Neff was publicly exposed and fired. Carlson tied “cancel culture” into his response about Neff, and the critics were not pleased with his response to the obviously offensive remarks. Fox News was slightly late to get their response to the situation out, but eventually issued this apology. “
We want to make abundantly clear that Fox News Media strongly condemns this horrific racist, misogynistic and homophobic behavior. Neff’s abhorrent conduct on this forum was never divulged to the show or the network until Friday, at which point we swiftly accepted his resignation,” Scott and Wallace added. “Make no mistake, actions such as his cannot and will not be tolerated at any time in any part of our workforce”. After addressing the incident he proceeded to finish his nightly show like usual, but with another announcement at the end. Carlson announced he would be taking the next week off for a ‘long planned’ fishing trip. The last time Carlson announced he was taking a break was in August 2019, after he made claims earlier that week that white supremacy was a hoax.

Tucker Carlson calling white supremacy a
hoax during one of his shows

“There is a long tradition of Fox News anchors going on supposedly pre-planned vacations when they spark controversy” (CNN). These controversies have all been followed by multiple big advertisers no longer running their ads on ‘Tucker Carlson Tonight’. Some of the brands that no longer affiliate themselves with his show on Fox include Papa John's Pizza, Disney, and T-Mobile. T-Mobile’s CEO even took it to Twitter where he made it very clear that T-Mobile will not stand with Carlson now or ever again in the future, as he shared that he doesn’t plan to return to work with the show again. “It definitely is not (a message we stand by). Bye-bye Tucker Carlson!” (Mike Sievert, Twitter). Carlson has had a very controversial past and is known for being a figure in the American political scene with contended comments. He was featured on a radio show from 2006 to 2009 called ‘Bubba The Love Sponge Show’ where he made several derogatory comments about women and people of color. The comments made included degrading the former first lady, Michelle Obama, on her appearance; claiming he has no respect for the Iraqi people and culture; and also explained his support for a hypothetically ‘Anti-Islam’ presidential candidate. The comments made on the radio show were always public but recently resurfaced back in early 2019. Carlson had a similar response to the media when they started covering the resurface. He lightly brushed off the comments that he made while offering no real apology, then fired back. He fired back at his critics, “Rather than express the usual ritual contrition, how about this: I’m on television every weeknight live for an hour,” Carlson wrote in the statement. “If you want to know what I think, you can watch. Anyone who disagrees with my views is welcome to come on and explain why” (Rosenburg).

Stakeholders

            The stakeholders of Fox News hold the company up to a high standard and a high value when it comes to the accuracy, speed, and reliability of their reporting. Having the most watched political news show on air in the country is a great accolade that is reflected in the stakeholders of Fox. Fox’s number one priority when a situation like this arises is to maintain its relationship with its viewers, which are the most important stakeholders, because without them there would be no business. Another important stakeholder relationship to maintain is its partners. All of the company’s that partner with Fox to run commercials question the safety of displaying their brand on Fox News after a situation like this takes place. Fox did a good job at getting an apology and explanation of the situation out to the public quickly, to assure the public, and it’s sponsors that they do not align themselves with the twisted views of their former employee Blake Neff. Fox’s biggest competitors, like MSNBC and CNN news networks, are big stakeholders of Fox, and benefit off of this controversy by gaining the viewers that left Fox because of what happened. To keep the stakeholder’s best interests in mind, Fox will have to do a better job at monitoring their writers, and anchors, to help prevent a similar situation from occurring again.

Individualism:

            Individualism’s main focus and ideals, brought about by Friedman, is about maximizing profit. Friedman believes that profit should be at the forefront of every business that is attempting to reach its max profitability. Another key principle of individualism is to remain within the law when attempting to maximize profit, for the sake of being ethically permissible. From an individualist perspective, this situation hurt Fox News. Blake Neff getting exposed for writing these messages brought a whole bunch of problems to Fox news. Fox lost viewers as the story spread across other news outlets. The situation hurt Fox’s reputation in the public eye, and while they did not break the law, Fox was doing the exact opposite of making profit. Multiple sponsors no longer ran ads on the show, including Disney, Papa John’s, and T-Mobile. Fox was put in a tough situation as they did not know what Neff was doing, so they had little control in their outcome, but this was definitely against individualist views. Fox would be ethically responsible for allowing Tucker Carlson to say controversial things on the air that offend certain people and cause the advertisers to pull away.

Utilitarianism

             The goal of Utilitarianism is to maximize self-happiness and the happiness of others. “Under a utilitarian framework, all beings who are capable of experiencing happiness should be considered when weighing the costs and benefits of actions” (Salazar). In this situation, with Utilitarian ideals, the principle of utility was not effectively displayed. Happiness was not maximized for everyone. Blake Neff and Tucker Carlson making controversial comments provided negative feedback for the company and was extremely hurtful to the sales of the company. The stockholders would be very unhappy as a result of this claim because the value of the company dropped and sales went down. The viewers at home are not happy because they now are going to have a hard time trusting the news network. It was a bad look for the company and which made everyone unhappy, and dissatisfied.

Kantianism

            The formula of humanity is to not treat someone simply as a means but always as an end. This means to not use people and don't lie, exploit, manipulate, steal, disrespect, degrade, objectify anyone. In this situation, the formula of humanity was not applied. Blake Neff and Tucker Carlson offended millions of people when they made their hateful and careless comments. Neff’s comments in particular were degrading and objectifying women and people of color. Carlson’s comments over the years have been disrespectful to women, immigrants, and people of color. Fox News fails from the perspective of Kantianism, by failing to take action against Carlson as he said the comments that were degrading to millions of people. Fox treated their viewers as a means and had disregard for their emotions. Fox took no action, and stood by Tucker Carlson, allowing him to make hateful, degrading, and misleading comments weekly on the top political news show in the country. By doing this, they showed a lack of care for their viewers, and furthermore showed their lack of acknowledgment for them as human beings. Fox treated their viewers as a mere means, not as an end.

Virtue Theory

             Courage, Justice, Honesty, and Self-Control are the four virtues to evaluate to find out if someone is being ethical in their business profession. These virtues are critical to a business in order to remain ethical, have a good public image, and maximize success. Fox News showed a lack of courage, as they allowed Tucker Carlson, and Neff to display such offensive and bigoted rhetoric every weeknight on live television. Their lack of moderation showed a blatant disregard for its millions of viewers at home, along with the company and show’s reputation of being reliable. Carlson and Neff both showed a lack of self-control numerous times when they let their personal opinions interfere with their job, which is to provide reliable and accurate news to the public. The offensive posts made by Blake are the complete opposite of everything him, Tucker, and Fox News stand for. Although Fox did issue an apology after Blake Neff was caught making the horrible posts online, they have not acted, or shown any signs of disconnection between themselves and Tucker Carlson. They do not have the virtue of Justice in their company, because if they did, Neff would have been fired long before, and Tucker Carlson would have had punishment for his offensive comments over the years, where sponsors were lost in the process.

Blake Neff

Justified Ethics Evaluation

            In my opinion, Fox News, Tucker Carlson, and Blake Neff all have a clear disregard for the stakeholders of Fox, along with people in general. Tucker Carlson’s lengthy history of controversial comments, with clear public backlash should have been a major red flag for Fox News when hiring him. Fox’s claim to be reliable is hard to defend after hearing controversy after controversy constantly about it’s top news show host. Blake Neff getting exposed was something that, in my opinion, Fox News and Carlson can never fully recover from. The man who was writing and preparing the monologue for the top-rated political television broadcast in the nation being exposed as a racist is a shocking headline that causes a huge amount of public relation problems. Tucker Carlson stands strong with his views on political issues, which causes him to receive a great deal of support, from the right leaning people in American politics, and a lack of support from the left leaning Americans. Tucker’s show is fueled on his opinion based political subject matter, which revolves around hot topic issues that are easy to start controversy. Ethically speaking, Carlson needs to be more careful about what he says, and Fox needs to do a better job at enforcing honesty, character, and justice within their company.

Action Plan

The current issue that revolves around this situation is that Tucker Carlson and Blake Neff have made controversial posts and comments over the years that have Fox News on constant watch by the American people. Fox News has become a hotbed for controversy. To resolve this issue, Fox getting rid of Neff was the correct move. On top of parting ways with Neff, Fox needs to perform a company wide rebrand, and let their employees know that offensive comments will no longer be disregarded or defended by the company. A set of core values that Fox should have moving forward should be to: Respect everyone from all different backgrounds, report honest, and accurate news in a timely fashion, and hold all employees accountable for their actions.

The new mission statement of Fox News is to bring you fast, reliable, unbiased news from all around the world. We respect and value all people from various diverse backgrounds and strive to appeal to everyone when it comes to delivering the news to our nation. This statement differs from the original because it focuses on encompassing everyone, and takes consideration for anyone who can be watching from home, no matter what their background or political views are. Fox needs to refrain from being heavily biased towards conservatives, and find a common ground that can be liked and appreciated by all political viewpoints.

According to the society of professional journalists:

Journalists should:

– Take responsibility for the accuracy of their work. Verify information before releasing it. Use original sources whenever possible.

– Be vigilant and courageous about holding those with power accountable. Give voice to the voiceless.

– Support the open and civil exchange of views, even views they find repugnant.

– Boldly tell the story of the diversity and magnitude of the human experience. Seek sources whose voices we seldom hear.

– Avoid stereotyping. Journalists should examine the ways their values and experiences may shape their reporting.

– Never deliberately distort facts or context, including visual information. Clearly label illustrations and re-enactments.

Moving forward, Fox news should adhere to these principles to stay ethically correct and bring the channel more success in the future.

 

 

 

 
Works Cited

Darcy, Oliver. “Tucker Carlson Addresses Ex-Staffer's Racist Posts, Says He Will Take 'Long-Planned' Vacation.” CNN, Cable News Network, 14 July 2020,

Folkenflik, David. “Fresh Scrutiny For Fox's Tucker Carlson As Top Writer Quits Over Bigoted Posts.” NPR, NPR, 13 July 2020,

Folkenflik, David. “You Literally Can't Believe The Facts Tucker Carlson Tells You. So Say Fox's Lawyers.” NPR, NPR, 29 Sept. 2020,

Michael Brice-Saddler, Eli Rosenberg. “Fox News Host Tucker Carlson Uses Racist, Homophobic Language in Second Set of Recordings.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 12 Mar. 2019,

Michael Brice-Saddler, Eli Rosenberg. “Fox News Host Tucker Carlson Uses Racist, Homophobic Language in Second Set of Recordings.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 12 Mar. 2019,

Michael. “Writer for Tucker Carlson Resigns After 'Abhorrent' Online Posts Are Revealed.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 11 July 2020,

Montgomery, Blake. “Fox News Executives Condemn Top Tucker Carlson Writer's Racist and Sexist Posts.” The Daily Beast, The Daily Beast Company, 11 July 2020,

Salazar, Heather. The Business Ethics Case Manual. n.d.

Szoldra, Paul. “Marines Quietly Cut Ties with Former Top Tucker Carlson Writer after Racist, Sexist Online Posts Were Revealed.” Business Insider, Business Insider, 17 July 2020,

Fox News: Chairman Faces Multiple Sexual Harassment Accusations (2016)

CONTROVERSY
Fox News Channel launched in October of 1996 by billionaire mogul Rupert Murdoch, who hired media consultant Roger Ailes as its founding CEO. Today, the company is worth upwards of $11 billion dollars, is available in 90 million homes, and is recognized as the dominant cable news network. The channel has been the most watched cable news network for fourteen years in a row, with more prime time viewers than MSNBC and CNN combined. Despite its massive success, the company's reputation has been tainted by accusations of bias, misrepresentation of facts, and most recently, fostering a work environment in which sexual harassment can easily occur.

Roger Ailes
 Former Chairman and Founding CEO of Fox News

On July 26, 2016 Gretchen Carlson, a former anchor for Fox News, filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against long time Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes. The lawsuit alleged that Carlson was terminated for rejecting Ailes' sexual advances. Later that week, New York Magazine reporter Gabriel Sherman reported similar accounts from six other women who also alleged sexual harassment at the hands of Ailes. Ailes and his representatives vehemently denied all allegations, claiming that each story was fabricated. However, upon an internal review into Carlson's claims, Fox News owner Rupert Murdoch apparently found enough information early into the review to conclude that Ailes needed to be let go. Murdoch decided to give Ailes an ultimatum, asking him to either resign by August 1 or be fired immediately. Ailes chose to resign on July 21, but not without a $40 million dollar check from Fox News and a public thank you for his time with the company. Additionally, he was able to stay on as a consultant for the parent company, 21st Century Fox, for another two years.

In August 2016, following Ailes’ resignation, reporter Andrea Tantaros also filed a lawsuit against Fox News for sexual harassment, accusing Ailes as well as two other men on the Fox News Team. Her suit claimed that she had spoken to Fox News executives about Ailes' inappropriate behavior toward her in 2015, and that her allegations got her demoted then later taken off the air. One month later, 21st Century Fox announced it had settled a lawsuit with Gretchen Carlson over her allegations of harassment against Ailes for $20 million dollars. The company also made at least two other settlements, the names and details of which were not publicly disclosed.   

Gretchen Carlson
Reporter, Most Public Ailes Accuser

STAKEHOLDERS
This controversy involves many stakeholders, more of which seem to be discovered every few weeks. Fox News itself is a stakeholder, as the allegations were made from several employees about another employee. The allegations make for embarrassing headlines and have led to millions of dollars spent on behalf of the company in court. Roger Ailes is an obvious stakeholder, for he was accused of the harassment and asked to resign. Additionally, Gretchen Carlson and Andrea Tantaros, as well as the other six victims who anonymously filed complaints and any woman working for Fox News as a reporter, consultant, or recurring guest are all stakeholders because they either have been or could have been victims of sexual harassment in this workplace. Fox News reporter Megyn Kelly and other women on the Fox News team have also been affected by this case, as they were asked to defend the accused and discredit the accusers.

INDIVIDUALISM

Example of a Potentially Damaging Headline

Individualism states that a business's only goal should be to make as much profit as possible, so the only obligation that a business person has is to maximize profit for the owner and stockholders of a company while obeying the law. Individualism analyzes the outcome of a decision rather than the intention of it. Fox News paid out at least $20 million dollars to Gretchen Carlson, one of Ailes' accusers. The company also settled with at least two other women for undisclosed amounts, and paid Roger Ailes $40 million dollars upon his resignation. Additionally, the company incurred other fees such as paying its legal teams and private investigators, plus paying Ailes a salary for at least two more years as he advises another area of the company. The company also broke laws by allowing sexual harassment to occur and continue to occur within the workplace. According to individualism the owners and stockholders of the company were stolen from, as their profits were spent on costs that could have been prevented. In sum, the company did not obey the law or maximize profits for its owners, and did not act ethically according to this theory.

UTILITARIANISM
Utilitarianism argues that happiness is the only thing of intrinsic value and therefore people must impartially bring about happiness in all beings capable of feeling it. A utilitarian would consider a decision ethical if it maximized happiness and minimized pain for all stakeholders. Fox News suppressed claims of sexual misconduct in the work place, failed to investigate early on, and fired women who came forward. This created a hostile work environment in which a powerful man was allowed to behave inappropriately for allegedly at least a period of one year without consequence, and any young female employee was expected to endure it or leave the company. The company's decision did not impartially bring about happiness, as it appeared to only maximize the happiness of one man, while hurting the company's own reputation, the victims, and other employees. Their behavior does not fit the criteria of utilitarian ethics, and so it cannot be considered ethical under this theory.

KANTIANISM
The basic principles of Kantian ethical theory are to act rationally, allow and help others to act rationally, respect others and their individual needs, and be motivated by the Good Will. Good Will refers to doing what is right simply because it is right. Kantianism does not allow deception or manipulation, for these behaviors cheat others out of receiving complete information which is necessary to make their own rational decisions. This theory also includes the Formula of Humanity, which requires that people act in such a way that they treat others always as both an end and a mean. The term "end" according to Kant refers to something that is valuable in itself, or a goal, while the term "means" refers to a way to get something else. Essentially what this formula means is that people cannot use other rational people simply as tools to get what they want. Fox News violated some of the key principles of this theory. The company did not respect Roger Ailes' accusers when they fired or demoted them. They were not motivated by the Good Will - Fox News only let Ailes go to avoid further harm to the company's reputation, not because it was the right thing to do. Furthermore, the company never issued an official statement regarding the controversy, instead they issued a kind 'thank you' to Roger Ailes for his decades of service with the company. This, coupled with the secret law suits and anonymity of other victims, left viewers and other stakeholders not fully informed. Fox News did not behave ethically according to Kantian ethical theory.

VIRTUE THEORY
Virtue Theory is derived from Aristotle's Functionalism, which states that a good person fulfills their function well, and that a person is happy when that function is fulfilled. Virtue Theory focuses on virtues, which are good characteristics that enable things to function properly, versus vices, which enable things to malfunction. There is a plethora of each, but the theory highlights four main virtues. These four main virtues include courage, honesty, temperance, and justice. In business, courage means risk-taking and a willingness to stand for what is right. Honesty refers to agreements, hiring, and employee treatment. Temperance means having reasonable expectations and justice means hard work, fair practice, and quality products. Fox News did take a risk by continuing to employ Roger Ailes amidst the various accusations, but it is not considered virtuous because it inhibited others from doing their jobs. The company was not honest in hiring, as Ailes allegedly offered jobs to women in return for sexual favors and the company did not treat him the way it treated others. Fox News did not exhibit temperance, for its expectations for women to remain silent were not reasonable. Finally, the company did not practice justice when it paid Roger Ailes tens of millions of dollars upon resignation. Fox News violated each of the four main virtues of business in this theory or allow all employees to fulfill their duties well and therefore did not behave ethically.

JUSTIFIED ETHICS EVALUATION

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Upon researching and analyzing the facts of this case, I personally believe that Fox News’ gravest ethical violation was initially siding with him over his accusers with little investigation. In some ways, it appears as though Ailes was even rewarded for his behavior in the form of a $40 million dollar exit deal - twice the amount granted in Gretchen Carlson's settlement - and public praise for his professional career. This behavior reflects poorly on the company's values and priorities. In addition, they suppressed victim claims and even punished those who tried to seek justice by firing, demoting, or discrediting them. Fox News failed to provide a workplace offering fairness, equality, safety, or comfort. My opinion is separate from the ethical theories examined above and could be changed with new information.

UPDATE APRIL 13, 2017

Although Roger Ailes has been removed from the position of Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, the controversy involving the culture of sexual harassment at Fox News is ongoing. On April 1, 2017 the New York Times published an investigation on Bill O’Reilly, star of cable news’ most popular program, “The O’Reilly Factor.” The story detailed how over $13 million has been paid out to address complaints and settle law suits from women about O’Reilly over the past decade. The complaints alleged either verbal abuse, sexual harassment, or sometimes both. Most recently, Wendy Walsh, a former recurring guest on “The O’Reilly Factor,” was just granted an internal investigation by Fox into her sexual harassment claims.

Since the story broke, the show’s ad time has decreased from just over fifteen minutes to less than seven minutes. This is because advertisers such as Mitsubishi, Aleve, Mercedes-Benz, Allstate, Subaru, and BMW have pulled their ads slated to air during his show. On April 11, amid this exodus of advertisers, O’Reilly announced he would be taking a voluntary, two week vacation to an undisclosed location. As of April 13, O’Reilly is expected to return to his show on Fox News on April 24 with no punishment by Fox or changes to his program.

RESOURCES

Byers, Dylan. "Megyn Kelly Outlines Harassment Allegations against Roger Ailes in New Book." CNNMoney. Cable News Network, 3 Nov. 2016. Web

Byers, Dylan. "Bill O'Reilly taking vacation amid scandal, advertiser exodus." CNNMoney. CNN Media, 11 Apr. 2017. Web.

Kelly, Megyn. Settle for More. S.I. Harper Collins, 2017. Print.

Kurtz, Howard. "Gretchen Carlson Harassment Suit against Roger Ailes Settled." Fox News. FOX News Network, 6 Sept. 2016. Web.

Kurtz, Howard. "Roger Ailes Resigns as Fox News Chairman, Rupert Murdoch Assumes Acting Role." Fox News. FOX News Network, 21 July 2016. Web.

Link, Taylor. "Here’s how Fox retaliated Against a Local Reporter." Salon. Salon Magazine, 11 Apr. 2017. Web.

Reilly, Katie. "More Women Accuse Fox News CEO Roger Ailes of Sexual Harassment."Time. Time, 9 July 2016. Web. 31 Jan. 2017. Web.

Steel, Emily. "Fox Faces New Lawsuit Claiming Harassment by Roger Ailes." The New York Times. New York, 13 Dec. 2016. Web.

Sherman, Gabriel. "How Fox News Women Took Down Roger Ailes." Daily Intelligencer. New York Magazine, 2 Sept. 2016. Web.

Sherman, Gabriel. "6 More Women Allege That Roger Ailes Sexually Harassed Them." Daily Intelligencer. New York Magazine, 9 July 2016. Web.

Steel, Emily, and Michael S. Schmidt. "Bill O’Reilly Thrives at Fox News, Even as Harassment Settlements Add Up." The New York Times. The New York Times, 01 Apr. 2017. Web.