Gawker should be ashamed of itself--although, of course, it's probably not possible to shame such a publication. Gawker's latest act of shamelessness is is a 1300-word attack piece on Roger Ailes, and his wife Beth Ailes. Beth is the owner-publisher of two small newspapers in upstate New York, near where the Aileses have a home. It seems that one Joseph Lindsley was for a brief time employed by Beth Ailes as editor of the papers. And now it seems as though Lindsley has left that job under very bad terms--although he remembered to collect his bonus on the way out the door.
The Cable Gamer is still nosing around for details on what happened, but this is much is clear: Lindsley, or someone, ahem, very close to him, is spilling completely unsubtantiated rumors to Gawker. And Gawker, of course, is lapping them up. The rumors aren't worth repeating here, although David Brock and others will no doubt be feasting on them--for all TCG knows, Lindsley will soon be working for Media Matters.
Once again, TCG claims no inside information, but Beth gave Gawker the text of a handwritten note from last December, which reads in part:
"Thanks for everything you've done for me. I've learned much and I continue to enjoy the whole adventure.... Thanks also for the generous bonus, the Ireland trip, and everything else—the list is long, including all the excellent home-cooked meals!"
Those words don't read like the words of someone who has been too badly mistreated by Beth and Roger.
For her part, Beth issued a statement that seems to sum things up nicely:
"These rambling allegations are untrue and in fact not even reality based. The paper hoped for Joe's success in spite of his personal habits and lack of performance, which included getting the weekly editions out late and over budget for three months. There's a sad disconnect between his claims of undying gratitude and his current state of agitation."
So Joseph Lindsley is at best an ingrate and at worst crazy. Or maybe it's the other way around.
