The Cable Gamer has always admired Mediaite's Steve Krakauer, because he has such a good relationship with his readers--he makes the extra effort to respond to their questions, even to wade into the comments about his stories.
But even more, The Cable Gamer also admires Krakauer's good relationship to the truth, and to good digging journalism.
Krakauer seems to be the first reporter to figure out that Matthew Freud does p.r. for Tina Brown and her new website, The Daily Beast. So when TDB trumpets that stray New York Times quote from Freud dumping on Roger Ailes, well, that's a case of TDB praising Freud, thereby further rewarding him for doing p.r. for TDB. Sounds complicated, I know.
So let Krakauer better explain this story and relate his scoop:
The New York Times lengthy, largely-positive Sunday profile of Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes has gotten a lot of attention from around the media (including here).
But the one major element that was negative – a quote from Rupert Murdoch son-in-law Matthew Freud – has been the focal point of two Daily Beast columns in the past three days. There may be a reason.
Today Lloyd Grove writes a Daily Beast column headlined “Is Ailes Finished at Fox?” which raises the rather shocking question over whether Roger Ailes could be fired for essentially one-upping his boss, Murdoch (here’s his previous column). The story is based on quotes from two “insiders” and a former News Corp. employee who left the company on “bad terms” with Murdoch. But mainly, it revolves around the quote from Matthew Freud (“I am by no means alone within the family or the company in being ashamed and sickened by Roger Ailes’s horrendous and sustained disregard of the journalistic standards that News Corporation” it read in part), which Murdoch’s News Corp. shot down immediately after the Times story went up. Grove’s insider says, “Rupert picked up his Times at the breakfast table, saw the story above the fold with the big photo of Roger, and probably choked on his coffee,” but the timeline doesn’t work – Murdoch had weighed in on the substance of Freud’s comment long before the print version appeared Sunday morning.
We asked News Corp. for comment on Grove’s latest column. “It’s completely ridiculous,” said a spokesperson.
There could be another reason why The Daily Beast is driving this one storyline. Freud is the head of Freud Communications – which happens to be the PR agency of The Daily Beast. No other News Corp. rogue employees are talking about an Ailes exit – they only seem to show up on The Daily Beast. In the first column, it was “a source close to Freud” who targeted Wendi Murdoch, Rupert’s wife. Both Beast columns make it sound like Freud and those close to him have some information about the inner workings of News Corp., but there’s no other proof that it’s anything more than wishful thinking on his part.
> Update: Freud continues to list Daily Beast as a client on their website. But PR Week writes HL Group “absorbs” Freud New York in February 2009.
So what will Ailes do? The answer, undoubtedly, is that he will do whatever he feels like doing. After 13 years at Fox--and countless whispering campaigns by various rivals and enemies--Ailes has certainly proven his point as a media professional. The only question now, TCG believes, is what Ailes will feel duty-bound to do next. What he feels he must do for Fox News, of course, but also, even more importantly, what he feels he must do for America.
But in any case, his job with Rupert Murdoch at the News Corporation is secure--making $700 million a year for your boss has a way of cementing loyalty. As Krakauer concludes:
The truth is, News Corp. isn’t getting rid of Roger Ailes. Why would they? It’s a business – and as has been proven time and time again, Ailes and Fox News are great business.
So in the meantime, Matthew Freud and Tina Brown are together, as pictured above, hatching their little schemelets. It's not Valentine's Day yet, but TCG feels safe depicting them together, M and T, sitting in their own bower of ruthless romance.
