Ailes’ Legacy is a Story of Timing, Success, Excess

There’s no doubt that Roger Ailes made a massive impact on television news. Some would argue that, outside Rush Limbaugh, Ailes is the single most important media figure in at least 30 years. Sure, he was never in front of the camera or microphone, but he completely changed the landscape of what TV news could be, and his fingerprints on Fox set the bar for everything that would come after.

That could have been the sum of his legacy. Instead, Ailes, who died last week at the age of 77, will also be remembered for the sexual harassment allegations that destroyed his career and created a domino effect at the network he created, the fallout of which is still reverberating.

But that doesn’t take away from the man’s genius. Ailes understood, perhaps more than any of his contemporaries, the powerful media one-two punch of attracting and then guiding his audience. When Fox News was founded, it was billed as a “safe place” for conservative political viewpoints. Many on the right at the time felt underrepresented in the media, especially on cable news. Ailes saw that opportunity and turned those feelings of frustrated disenfranchisement into the most profitable news channel on the dial.

As that evolved, other stations were forced to change their formats to keep pace. Instead of being center left, as many were, they pushed further left … and Fox moved further right. Discourse was coarsened as the brands continued to both play to and develop a choir. This shift was as much a reflection of the leader as it was a profit-driven consensus.

A brash and combative personality, Ailes relished confrontation, and that attitude slowly trickled down into the programming he oversaw. By the time social media platforms had people screaming at each other nonstop, they’d been conditioned to do so after years of watching their favorite pundits do the same thing on TV. Bubbles of political opinion developed on both sides, as did the “us against them” mentality.

While he could be combative and vindictive, sources who knew Ailes well said he could also be very funny. Not always appropriate, but funny. That trait, too, was felt in Fox coverage with humor, which often disparaged the political opposition and delighted the fan base. Once again, it was Ailes’ fingerprint.

It’s not surprising, then, that the verdict was split when the news of Ailes’ ouster was announced. For a generation who grew up despising Fox and all it stood for, this was reason to cheer. But, for others, many of whom felt they had found a home at Fox, Ailes failings were forgivable.

How will history judge him? That probably depends on who tells the best stories.

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Ronn Torossian is CEO of 5WPR, one of America’s leading independent PR agencies.