The Loudest Voice in the Room: How the Brilliant, Bombastic Roger Ailes Built Fox News--and Divided a Country
Page 57
49. Ailes also reached out Memo from Peter Flanigan to Starke Meyer, Oct. 11, 1972. “Leonard Garment has asked me to let you know about a new musical being produced by Roger Ailes, called ‘Mother Earth,’ ” Flanigan wrote. “Please let me know if you are interested.”
50. After the curtain Author interview with Robert Cohen.
51. John Bennett Perry got a call Author interview with John Bennett Perry.
52. In a savage review Clive Barnes, “Stage: ‘Mother Earth,’ a Rock Revue,” New York Times, Oct. 20, 1972.
53. “The second night” Author interview with Rick Podell.
54. Within a week Author interview with John Bennett Perry.
55. After just a dozen performances Clara Rotter (compiler), “Closing the Record Book on 1972–1973,” New York Times, July 1, 1973.
56. “My eyes” Collins, Crazy Like a Fox, 30.
57. “The main discussion” Author interview with Paul Turnley.
58. “Don’t ever chase critics” Collins, Crazy Like a Fox, 30.
59. As he would later tell it Collins, Crazy Like a Fox, 30. When asked if Ailes scouted productions himself, Robert Cohen said: “Not that I know of. He depended on me. I was the guy who had to go find these things.” He went on: “The fact of the matter is, Roger wasn’t in the club.… Roger subscribed to every trade publication on earth and I would sit with a razor blade and I would be clipping out articles. You can do that forever but by the time it’s in the trade, it’s been picked up.” Cohen said that Ailes usually rejected his ideas. “There was Roger with his big Roger office. There was me in my little office, and I would get ahold of every agent in New York and read every play they would send to me,” Cohen recalled. “But the problem was the stuff I was interested in Roger wouldn’t go for at all. All this left-wing stuff about hippies and banning the war. I’d go, ‘Read this,’ and he’d go, ‘I don’t want to do things like this. I want to do American things.’ ”
60. He hired Author interview with Robert Cohen.
61. One day in February 1973 Author interview with Robert Cohen.
62. Lanford Wilson, a cofounder Circle Repertory Company Records, New York Public Library, http://archives.nypl.org/the/21737.
63. depicted a group Lanford Wilson, The Hot l Baltimore (New York: Dramatists Play Service, 1973), 7.
64. “I thought, My God” Author interview with Robert Cohen.
65. After the show Ibid.
66. The next day at the office Ibid.
67. a 299-seat venue Letter from Robert Cohen to Malt-O-Meal public relations, March 26, 1973.
68. Ailes committed to raising Certificate of Limited Partnership of Hot l Baltimore Company, March 16, 1973, Kermit Bloomgarden papers, Wisconsin Historical Society.
69. he tapped Author interview with Howard Butcher IV.
70. Lanford Wilson and Marshall Mason Author interview with Marshall Mason.
71. Opening night came Wilson, The Hot l Baltimore, 4.
72. “Everything that went onto the stage” Author interview with actress Conchata Ferrell.
73. “The crazies” Walter Kerr, “The Crazies Are Good to Listen To,” New York Times, March 4, 1973.
74. A parade of notables Author interview with Robert Cohen.
75. He expressed keen interest Author interview with Robert Cohen.
76. graphic artist David Byrd Biography on David Edward Byrd official website, http://www.david-edward-byrd.com/biocontact-1.html.
77. Byrd did a graphic Image of the poster for Circle on the Square production of Hot l Baltimore on Byrd official website, http://www.david-edward-byrd.com/theatre7-4.html.
78. “They both complained” Author interview with Robert Cohen.
79. A few days after Letter from Robert Cohen to Malt-O-Meal public relations, March 26, 1973. Cohen mentions the Benson & Hedges and Coca-Cola arrangements in this letter.
80. While the hotel residents Wilson, The Hot l Baltimore, 32, 33.
81. “What a gorgeous” Author interview with actress Mari Gorman.
82. “We hardly saw Roger” Author interview with Stephanie Gordon.
83. Shortly after the show opened Ibid.
84. a pivotal scene Wilson, The Hot l Baltimore, 32, 33.
85. Making her way Author interview with Stephanie Gordon.
86. In 1973, Hot l Baltimore www.villagevoice.com/obies/index/1973/, http://www.dramacritics.org/dc_pastawards.html.
87. generated a profit Hot l Baltimore balance sheet, Jan. 4, 1976, Kermit Bloomgarden papers, Wisconsin Historical Society.
88. ABC Wesley Hyatt, Short-Lived Television Series, 1948–1978: Thirty Years of More Than 1,000 Flops (Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2003), 232.
89. Mari Gorman recalled Roger Ailes fondly Author interview with Mari Gorman.
90. Stephanie Gordon struggled Author interview with Stephanie Gordon.
91. Marshall Mason, who lives Author interview with Marshall Mason.
92. Conchata Ferrell, who went on Author interview with Conchata Ferrell.
93. In his own telling Collins, Crazy Like a Fox, 30.
94. His new employee Author interview with Stephen Rosenfield.
95. In December 1973 Louis Calta, “News of the Stage,” New York Times, Dec. 9, 1973. “It’s a women’s show,” Ailes told Calta, “and deals with the sexual freedoms of today.”
96. favorable review Howard Thompson, “ ‘Ionescopade’ Shifts to the Cherry Lane,” New York Times, July 28, 1973.
97. Ailes leaned on Kermit Bloomgarden papers, Wisconsin Historical Society (finance notes for Ionescopade).
98. Robert Kennedy Jr. Author interview with Robert Kennedy Jr.
99. A wealthy American businessman Ibid.
100. But a three-hour meeting Kiki Levathes, “Robert Kennedy Jr. at 21,” New York Daily News, printed in The Evening Independent (St. Petersburg, Florida), Sept. 9, 1975.
101. “We joked about Nixon” Author interview with Robert Kennedy Jr.
102. After Kennedy signed Levathes, “Robert Kennedy Jr. at 21.” See also “A Kennedy in Africa,” Broadcasting, April 1, 1974. Broadcasting reported that Kennedy agreed to do an untitled wildlife series of twenty-six half hour episodes with Ailes, but only one TV special was made.
103. The pair traveled Author interview with Last Frontier writer and producer Tom Shachtman.
104. “I had a lot of laughs” Author interview with Robert Kennedy Jr.
105. On April 25 Mel Gussow, “Theater—‘Ionescopade,’ ” New York Times, April 26, 1974.
106. After fourteen performances Dan Dietz, Off Broadway Musicals, 1910–2007: Casts, Credits, Songs, Critical Reception and Performance Data of More Than 1,800 Shows (Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2010), Entry 773.
107. In April Author interview with Stephen Rosenfield. Garrett’s appointment was announced in May. See Louis Calta, “News of the Stage” (“Kelly Garrett in ‘Mack & Mabel’ ”), New York Times, May 12, 1974.
108. David Merrick’s $850,000 production Ellen Stock, “Mack & Mabel: Getting the Show off the Road,” New York, Oct. 7, 1974.
109. two female leads Ibid.
110. Garrett was performing Ibid.
111. Ailes pushed Garrett Author interview with Stephen Rosenfield.
112. “That one broke my heart” Stock, “Mack & Mabel: Getting the Show off the Road.”
113. The embarrassing public setback Author interview with Stephen Rosenfield.
114. “As far as I’m concerned” Ellen Stock, “Mack & Mabel: Getting the Show Off the Road.”
115. After he returned Richard Esposito, “Giuliani Adviser’s ’74 Gun Charge,” Newsday, Oct. 23, 1989. According to Esposito, the date of the arrest was November 10, 1974. See also Chafets, Roger Ailes, 31.
116. When news of the arrest surfaced Esposito, “Giuliani Adviser’s ’74 Gun Charge.” “My understanding is that Ailes was over in Africa doing a documentary with Bobby Kennedy Jr. and was carrying a gun over there for protection,” Giuliani’s deputy campaign
manager Ken Caruso told Esposito. “He came back to the United States and had this gun in his film equipment, and went out in Central Park.” Esposito reported, “Caruso said Ailes took the equipment belt out and strapped it around his waist, unaware that the gun was still in it.” See also Todd Purdum, “Amid the Shouts, Dinkins Remains Calm,” New York Times, Oct. 26, 1989.
117. It felt like an excuse Author interview with Robert Kennedy Jr.
118. Ailes pleaded guilty Esposito reported that after being charged with a felony, Ailes pled guilty to a misdemeanor and was given a conditional discharge.
119. Ailes called a young acquaintance Author interview with an acquaintance of Roger Ailes in the 1970s.
120. Violence never solves Grove, “The Image Shaker; Roger Ailes, the Bush Team’s Wily Media Man.”
121. It was advice Author interview with Robert Ailes Jr.
122. Ailes kept others at a distance Author interviews with friends of Roger Ailes in the 1970s.
123. her lapdog, Squeaker Jack O’Brian, “Gal from Santa Fe,” Spartanburg (South Carolina) Herald, July 26, 1974, http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1876&dat=19740726&id=yXosAAAAIBAJ&sjid=TcwEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4122,4508433.
124. McGinniss was in a similar situation Joe McGinniss, Heroes (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1976), 152 and passim.
125. Joe and Nancy made their home Author interviews with Joe McGinniss and Nancy Doherty.
126. “Do I ever get nervous” O’Brien, “Gal from Santa Fe.”
127. “Roger and I didn’t talk” Author interview with Joe McGinniss.
128. “After a visit from Roger” Author interview with Nancy Doherty.
129. “He was eating” Author interview with Joe McGinniss.
130. “He took Watergate” Author interview with Stephen Rosenfield.
131. In the fall of 1974 Author interview with Stephen Rosenfield. Charles M. Madigan, “Governor Candidates Will Take to the Air,” United Press International (printed in The News-Dispatch, Jeannette, Pennsylvania), Aug. 12, 1974. See also John J. Kennedy, Pennsylvania Elections: Statewide Contests from 1950–2004 (Lanham, Md.: University Press of America, 2006), 100–101.
132. Lewis lost Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission website (biographical entry for Milton Shapp), http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/1951-present/4285/milton_j__shapp/471867.
133. After the defeat Author interview with Stephen Rosenfield.
134. “Whenever he can” Author interview with a senior Fox executive.
135. Creating the Fox News Author interview with a friend of Roger Ailes.
SEVEN: THOUGHT PATTERN REVOLUTION
1. In May 1974 Minutes of TVN board meeting of May 21, 1974.
2. Harvard MBA Robert Reinhold Pauley résumé, recorded in Robert Reinhold Pauley papers.
3. As the president Jeff Byrd, “Robert Pauley ’42 Remembers Radio Days,” Tryon Daily Bulletin, Sept. 10, 2004.
4. Goldwater supporter and a John Bircher Author interview with a person close to the late Robert Pauley.
5. a local plan Ibid. See also Drew Pearson, “Fluoridation Battle Dividing New Canaan; DAR Leading Foe,” Sunday Herald, April 2, 1948, http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2229&dat=19580420&id=h2MmAAAAIBAJ&sjid=KQAGAAAAIBAJ&pg=2395,2064825.
6. After being pushed out Brian Stelter, “Robert Pauley, Former Head of ABC Radio, Dies at 85,” New York Times, May 13, 2009.
7. United Press International “TVN Inc. to Weaken Networks’ Hold on Television News,” Gallagher Report, March 19, 1973.
8. In 1972 Robert Pauley memo to John Shad, April 9, 1973. “I disclosed the existence of News, Inc., which company I founded in early 1968.… In January of 1972, Joseph Coors of Adolph Coors Company called me and said that he had learned of News, Inc. and its objectives,” Pauley wrote to Shad.
9. “All three networks slant the news” Testimony of Joseph Coors, U.S. Congress, Senate, Committee on Commerce, hearings on nomination of Joseph Coors, 84th Congr., 1st session, 104.
10. Coors certainly shared Russell Kirk’s lament Russell Kirk, The Conservative Mind (Washington, D.C.: Regnery, 1953), 4.
11. He committed Memo from Robert Pauley to John Shad, April 19, 1973.
12. Coors was also funding Stephen Isaacs, “Coors Beer—and Politics—Move East,” Washington Post, May 4, 1975.
13. “We were discussing” Author interview with Jack Wilson.
14. Their goal was to launch John O. Gilbert, “The Story Behind Television News Inc.,” Backstage, March 23, 1973.
15. The press release “New Television News Service for U.S. Broadcasters Announced,” Shaw Elliott Public Relations (press release), Jan. 22, 1975.
16. Two weeks before Robert Pauley memo to Jack Wilson, May 2, 1973. “That is one reason why I am happy you are going to be in Washington and that I insisted that Joe have a line in or cassettes on a daily basis. We are dealing here with some what of a vertical situation, that is, the product of Network training. It is up to us to shape changes as time goes by.”
17. William F. Buckley Jr. Letter from Robert Pauley to William Buckley, Oct. 10, 1973.
18. “I have suggested” Undated letter from Robert Pauley to Pat Buchanan.
19. He asked Wilson Confidential memo from Robert Pauley to Jack Wilson, May 2, 1973.
20. When TVN finally launched Memo from Dick Perkin to Jack Wilson, May 11, 1973. “As you know, most of our activity this week is tied into the start-up on May 14,” Perkin wrote.
21. “There will be days” Dan Baum, Citizen Coors: An American Dynasty (New York: HarperCollins, 2000), 112.
22. In one, he complained Memo from Jack Wilson to Joseph Coors and Robert Pauley, June 27, 1973.
23. In another Memo from Jack Wilson to Joseph Coors and Robert Pauley, June 28, 1973.
24. “Why are you covering” Stanhope Gould, “Coors Brews the News,” Columbia Journalism Review, March/April 1975.
25. At another board meeting Robert Pauley’s notes from TVN board meeting of Dec. 18, 1973.
26. Paul Weyrich Jack Shafer, “Fox News 1.0,” Slate, June 5, 2008.
27. “I’ve had no influence” Stephen Isaacs, “Coors Bucks Network ‘Bias’—Sets Up Alternative TV News to Offset Liberals,” Washington Post, May 5, 1975.
28. Ronald Waldman Letter from Robert Pauley to TVN board member Ronald Waldman, reiterating Waldman’s concerns, Aug. 13, 1973.
29. “Let’s not get labeled” Robert Pauley letter to Everett Barnhardt, Adolph Coors Company, July 1, 1974.
30. In February 1974 Gould, “Coors Brews the News.”
31. By the spring, Coors seized TVN board minutes, May 21, 1974.
32. “I hate all those network people” Baum, Citizen Coors, 113.
33. In short order Gould, “Coors Brews the News”; “Slimmed-Down TVN Says It’s Alive and Well: Spokesman Talks of Expansion Despite Personnel Reductions,” Broadcasting, Nov. 18, 1974.
34. In July 1974, Ailes delivered Minutes of TVN board meeting of July 23, 1974.
35. four months later Variety, “TVN Gets Shot for What Ailes It: St. John Return,” Nov. 20, 1974.
36. “He didn’t know anything” Author interview with CNN cofounder Reese Schonfeld.
37. “He took on a role” Author interview with Stephen Rosenfield.
38. “Ran 1968 Nixon campaign” Handwritten notes of Robert Pauley on an agenda for a July 23, 1974, Television News board of directors meeting.
39. “Their politics” Author interview with Stephen Rosenfield.
40. “Roger Ailes has quickly given” Report from Jack Wilson to the TVN board, Nov. 27, 1974.
41. The week of Thanksgiving Memo from Roger Ailes to Jack Wilson, Nov. 25, 1974.
42. “Roger Ailes has suggested” Memo from TVN cofounder Richard Perkin to Jack Wilson, Nov. 1974 (no day specified).
43. a profile of Kelly Garrett Gould, “Coors Brews the News.”
44. TVN Enterprises In its Sept. 8, 1975, issue, Broadcasting ran a full-page ad
with the title “TVN Enterprises Presents The Last Frontier.” The ad identified TVN Enterprises as the distributor of the film and as a division of Television News Incorporated.
45. Reese Schonfeld, TVN’s vice president Author interview with Reese Schonfeld.
46. In the winter Gould, “Coors Brews the News.”
47. In its first year, TVN TVN financial statement, Dec. 30, 1973. See also handwritten notes of Bob Pauley from the Sept. 25, 1975, TVN board of of directors meeting.
48. Western Union and NASA “Satellite Launched by Western Union for Communication,” New York Times, April 14, 1974.
49. on January 9, 1975 Letter from Jack Wilson to Robert Pauley, Jan. 16, 1975.
50. “I want to find out” Gould, “Coors Brews the News.”
51. He talked with Art Rush Roger Ailes report to TVN Board of Directors, June 2, 1975.
52. Joyce Brothers Memo from Roger Ailes to Jack Wilson, November 25, 1974.
53. Paul Keyes Roger Ailes report to TVN Board of Directors, June 2, 1975.
54. Around this time Report from Roger Ailes to TVN board, June 2, 1975.
55. On his West Coast swing Letter from Jack Wilson to Richard Nixon, June 7, 1975.
56. Wilson hired Bruce Herschensohn Variety, “Nixon Aide Joins TV News Agency,” Feb. 19, 1975.
57. $200-per-day Bruce Herschensohn Private Papers, Pepperdine University.
58. “It is not [Eric] Sevareid” Ibid.
59. From his apartment on Virginia Avenue Ibid.
60. “the disguise of neutrality” Letter from Bruce Herschensohn to Jack Wilson, March 23, 1975.
61. He proposed that TVN producers Bruce Herschensohn’s proposed script of Feb. 17, 1975.
62. Herschensohn viewed his television proposal Bruce Herschensohn Private Papers, Pepperdine University.
63. On April 30 Bruce Herschensohn private papers, Pepperdine University.
64. Anchor Bob Sellers Author interview with former Fox News anchor Bob Sellers.
65. The dish to receive Schonfeld, Me and Ted Against the World, 40.
66. at a choreographed rollout Author interview with Reese Schonfeld.
67. bicentennial film Letter from Bruce Herschensohn to Jack Wilson, July 6, 1975.
68. By September 1975 Handwritten notes of Bob Pauley from the Sept. 25, 1975, TVN board of directors meeting.