The turmoil at Fox News continued Monday with the ouster of co-president Bill Shine, who succeeded Roger Ailes amid a sexual-harassment scandal last summer despite Shine’s alleged role in abetting Ailes in tolerating a workplace hostile to women.
Shine, a 20-year Fox News veteran, appeared to have the backing of Fox chairman Rupert Murdoch in the wake of the firing of Bill O’Reilly, Fox’s biggest star. Only last week, Murdoch, Shine and Fox co-president Jack Abernethy were photographed emerging from lunch at a Manhattan restaurant, a tableaux widely read as a vote of confidence by Murdoch in the two men.
Instead, Shine appeared to come under increasing pressure all week, as rumor began circulating that Murdoch’s sons – Lachlan and James, who run Fox’s parent company, 21st Century Fox – were seeking his successor.
Shine ran the programming arm of the media empire, while Abernethy, also a longtime Fox News executive, runs the business side of the company, including ad sales, finance and distribution.
Rupert Murdoch announced Shine’s departure in an internal memo Monday afternoon:
“Sadly, Bill Shine resigned today,” he wrote. “I know Bill was respected and liked by everyone at Fox News. We will all miss him.”
Murdoch said Suzanne Scott, Shine’s top deputy, will become president of programming. Jay Wallace, executive vice president of news, will be president of news.