New Fox chief cracks down on inflammatory statements

CEO Suzanne Scott summoned producers to a meeting to direct them to take more control over hosts and panelists.

By JASON SCHWARTZ 06/27/2018 07:43 PM EDT

Amid growing backlash against inflammatory statements by Fox News commentators, network CEO Suzanne Scott summoned top show producers to a meeting last week and delivered a clear message: They need to be in control of their hosts and panelists.

Scott told the producers that they would be held accountable for anything said on their air, and that it was their job to head off any inappropriate remarks, according to two people with knowledge of the meeting. Appearing via video conference from Washington, D.C., to the group in New York, which also included programming executives, Scott read from a prepared script, explaining that she wanted to make sure she communicated her message precisely.

“She said, ‘You are responsible for protecting the talent, protecting the brand,’” one of the people aware of the meeting said. “She said, ‘You are responsible as the producers. You have to protect the talent and the brand.’”

The decision by Scott, who is in her second month as CEO, to gather the executives and producers last Wednesday and read them prepared remarks was unusual, said the people familiar with the meeting, and not something they were aware had ever happened before. With several national advertisers having dropped Fox News shows in recent months and an increasing number of prominent voices speaking out against the network, the top-rated channel finds itself at a delicate moment.

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https://www.politico.com/story/2018/06/27/suzanne-scott-fox-panelists-680625