Monica Lewinsky Bids 'Farewell To The Age Of Ailes' In Sharply Worded NYT Column
- 7 years ago
Monica Lewinsky recently shared her thoughts on the legacy former Fox News executive Roger Ailes leaves behind.
Monica Lewinsky, who became a household name in the 1990s due to her relations with President Bill Clinton and the extensive media coverage the matter received, recently shared her thoughts on the legacy former Fox News executive Roger Ailes leaves behind.
She did so in a New York Times op-ed titled 'Roger Ailes’s Dream Was My Nightmare,' which was published on Monday.
Lewinsky recalls that, as the head of the then-fledgling Fox News, Roger Ailes, “…took the story of the affair and the trial that followed and made certain his anchors hammered it ceaselessly, 24 hours a day.” She continues, “It worked like magic: The story hooked viewers and made them Fox loyalists.”
The network’s booming success, says Lewinsky, came at her expense and plummeted her into a world filled with fear of incarceration and thoughts of suicide. She writes, “My character, my looks and my life were picked apart mercilessly…Mr. Ailes huddled with his employees at Fox News, dictating a lineup of talking heads to best exploit this personal and national tragedy.”
While, since the death of Ailes, many have described his professional legacy as one of great success and influence, Lewinsky sees no triumph.
In her view, “Our world — of cyberbullying and chyrons, trolls and tweets — was forged in 1998. It is, as the historian Nicolaus Mills has put it, a ‘culture of humiliation,’ in which those who prey on the vulnerable in the service of clicks and ratings are handsomely rewarded.”
As such, she bids, “farewell to the age of Ailes. The late Fox chief pledged Americans fair and balanced news. Maybe now we’ll get it.”
Variety notes that Ailes passed away on May 18 at the age of 77. About a week prior, he had fallen and struck his head. A medical examiner in Palm Beach County attributed his death to complications resulting from the head injury.
Monica Lewinsky, who became a household name in the 1990s due to her relations with President Bill Clinton and the extensive media coverage the matter received, recently shared her thoughts on the legacy former Fox News executive Roger Ailes leaves behind.
She did so in a New York Times op-ed titled 'Roger Ailes’s Dream Was My Nightmare,' which was published on Monday.
Lewinsky recalls that, as the head of the then-fledgling Fox News, Roger Ailes, “…took the story of the affair and the trial that followed and made certain his anchors hammered it ceaselessly, 24 hours a day.” She continues, “It worked like magic: The story hooked viewers and made them Fox loyalists.”
The network’s booming success, says Lewinsky, came at her expense and plummeted her into a world filled with fear of incarceration and thoughts of suicide. She writes, “My character, my looks and my life were picked apart mercilessly…Mr. Ailes huddled with his employees at Fox News, dictating a lineup of talking heads to best exploit this personal and national tragedy.”
While, since the death of Ailes, many have described his professional legacy as one of great success and influence, Lewinsky sees no triumph.
In her view, “Our world — of cyberbullying and chyrons, trolls and tweets — was forged in 1998. It is, as the historian Nicolaus Mills has put it, a ‘culture of humiliation,’ in which those who prey on the vulnerable in the service of clicks and ratings are handsomely rewarded.”
As such, she bids, “farewell to the age of Ailes. The late Fox chief pledged Americans fair and balanced news. Maybe now we’ll get it.”
Variety notes that Ailes passed away on May 18 at the age of 77. About a week prior, he had fallen and struck his head. A medical examiner in Palm Beach County attributed his death to complications resulting from the head injury.