Roger Ailes' History Of Media Manipulation
Fox bossman Roger Ailes is the best teacher any media attack flack could have. He's been screwing with the media for decades. Ailes is the man who perfected the art of hammering the media with charges of bias in order to deflect negative coverage from oneself. Kerwin Swint's new biography of him, Dark Genius, has plenty of examples from throughout his entire career. And you have to hand it to Ailes: his clients-all the way up to the President-got the best media haranguing tactics money can buy:
Early on, Ailes tried (unsuccessfully) to get two newspapers to retract negative coverage of him. In today's environment, the gambit might have succeeded. You have to admire his balls, considering his suggested correction:
When Ailes was helping former president George Bush prep for his debates, he slipped him a sure applause line: attack the liberal media messenger, Dan Rather: