In a July 23 NewsBusters post, the Media Resarch Center’s Tim Graham took offense to New York Times media critic James Poniewozik referring to outgoing Fox News chief Roger Ailes as the J. Edgar Hoover of TV news who acted for the conservative movement like “a power behind the power, unelected but mighty, outliving administrations and the ebbs and flows of elections, ruling by force and fear.”
Graham dismissed that claim — and the sexual harassment allegations against Ailes — by asserting, “If these claims of sexual harassment are true, Ailes seems more like Bob Packwood than J. Edgar Hoover.” That’s one of the very few references to Ailes’ sexual harassment scandal at the MRC, which is sadly not surprising — Graham, Brent Bozell and the rest of the MRC would like to keep appearing on Fox News, after all.
But it turns out the J. Edgar Hoover comparison is much closer than Graham or even Poniewozik claimed. New York magazine’s Gabriel Sherman has reported that Ailes used the Fox News budget to hire consultants, political operatives, and private detectives who reported only to him and conducted PR and surveillance campaigns against journalists, authors and other critics of Fox News or perceived threats to the organization.
Don’t expect the MRC to report on this development, or Graham to revise his denial of the Ailes-Hoover comparison. Again, they don’t want to jeopardize future Fox News appearances.