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.”
FIFTEEN: THE CALL
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.”)
105. “The day after the election” Author interview with a senior Fox producer.
106. “It won’t be easy” Brit Hume, Special Report with Brit Hume, Fox News Channel, Nov. 8, 2000.
107. “There is a minor brouhaha” Bill O’Reilly, The O’Reilly Factor, Fox News Channel, Nov. 8, 2000.
108. “I think what’s going on” John Gibson, The O’Reilly Factor, Fox News Channel, Dec. 9, 2000.
109. On November 26 Collins, Crazy Like a Fox, 156–57;
Paula Zahn, Special Report with Brit Hume, Fox News Channel, Nov. 26, 2000.
110. “If it hadn’t been for Fox” Howard Kurtz, “Doing Something Right, Fox News Sees Ratings Soar, Critics Sore,” Washington Post, Feb. 5, 2001.
111. In November 2000 Collins, Crazy Like a Fox, 158.
112. David Shuster was Much of the information in the following pages is taken from an author interview with broadcaster and journalist David Shuster.
113. On Thursday, November 2 Alicia C. Shepard, “A Late-Breaking Campaign Skeleton,” American Journalism Review, Dec. 2000.
114. Carl Cameron broke it Brit Hume, Special Report with Brit Hume, Fox News Channel, Nov. 2, 2000.
115. “I knew it would hurt him” Ken Auletta, “Vox Fox: How Roger Ailes and Fox News Are Changing Cable News,” New Yorker, May 26, 2003.
116. the reporter’s source was a Democrat Shepard, “A Late-Breaking Campaign Skeleton.”
117. On air, Tony Snow Tony Snow, Special Report with Brit Hume, Fox News Network, Nov. 3, 2000.
118. “I don’t know whether” Alan Colmes, Hannity & Colmes, Carl Cameron interview with George W. Bush, Fox News Channel, Nov. 4, 2000.
119. The coverage reflected Author interview with David Shuster.
120. As the recount stalemated Ibid.
121. Shuster also clashed Author interview with David Shuster.
122. Bret Baier “Bret Baier,” Foxnews.com, http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/personalities/bret-baier/bio/; David Folkenflik, “Bret Baier: The Next Generation of Fox News Anchor,” NPR.org, April 6, 2011, http://www.npr.org/2011/04/07/135176903/bret-baier-the-next-generation-of-fox-news-anchor.
123. On Fox, Brit Hume Brit Hume, Special Report with Brit Hume, Fox News Channel, Nov. 15, 2000.
124. Shuster’s time was running out Author interview with David Shuster.
125. He would leave the network “First Bites,” Bulldog Reporter Business Media, July 26, 2002.
126. On November 9 Mayer, “George W.’s Cousin.”
127. “Jebbie’ll be calling me” Ibid.
128. “It was just the three of us” Ibid.
129. Gore’s campaign manager Tapper, Down & Dirty, 69n.
130. There were congressional hearings Katharine Q. Seelye, “Congress Plans Study of Voting Processes and TV Coverage,” New York Times, Feb. 9, 2001.
The Loudest Voice in the Room: How the Brilliant, Bombastic Roger Ailes Built Fox News--and Divided a Country Page 64