Sarah Palin: Fox News Corporate Culture Has To Change And So Do The Women of Fox News
Sarah Palin seems somewhat noncommittal about whether she experienced sexual harassment as a Fox News Channel employee.
In a CNN interview, the former Alaska governor acknowledged that the Fox News corporate culture must change in the aftermath of the abrupt departure of longtime top-rated anchor Bill O’Reilly amidst a sexual harassment controversy. Former CEO Roger Ailes exited in July 2016 under a similar cloud. See the entire Sarah Palin interview embedded below.
Palin, the 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee on the ticket with Sen. John McCain, also underscored that female Fox News employees must stand up for themselves rather than wait until the vultures start circling.
A Fox News contributor for five years through mid-2015, Palin aired most of her live shots from a home studio in Alaska during her tenure, however.
Palin joined President Trump for dinner at the White House Wednesday night along with friends Ted Nugent and Kid Rock, whom Palin described as “bold, courageous, all-American dudes.” A Trump supporter since she endorsed him in Iowa back in January 2016, Palin said that the group discussed “middle-class, work-ethic-type issues” with the president during their meal.
Earlier that same busy news day, Trump met with the New England Patriots minus Tom Brady for the traditional visit with the Super Bowl champions.
When CNN’s Jake Tapper asked Sarah Palin about sexual harassment at Fox News, the former governor explained that there is shared responsibility to straighten out the corporate culture there.
“Well, I think the key there is that — you said I used to be with Fox. I used to be with Fox. Corporate culture there obviously has to change. You know, women don’t deserve–they should not ever have to put up with any kind of intimidating workspace. At the same time, if a woman believes that she is being intimidated and harassed, she needs to stand up and do something about it, not stick around for a paycheck for years and years and years, and then after the fact complain about what she went through. As a strong woman, I say, you know, we should be — feel more empowered than that and we should, you know, take a stand and get out of the place or, you know, blow the whistle on whoever is the perpetrator doing the bad stuff so that the culture will change…More power to the good things that Fox News is doing but, yes, culture had to change there.”
The interview then took a turn when Tapper asked her if she either experienced or witnessed sexual harassment at FNC. Palin declared that she would never put up with any kind of misbehavior of that nature. When Tapper followed up with a question about whether any alleged misconduct might have contributed to her leaving Fox News, Palin seemed to hesitate and then added that “you can ask them why I’m no longer with Fox… I’m not going to speak for them. My contract wasn’t renewed; that’s the line.”
Fox News/Fox Business Channel anchor Melissa Francis remarked earlier this month that sexual harassment is a big problem for the media industry and that victimized women at other news channels will likely begin to come forward.
According to the liberal website Salon, left-wing activist groups engineered the advertiser boycott that led to O’Reilly’s downfall.
As part of the visit to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Sarah Palin and her pals seemed to trigger the ever-vigilant social justice cohort on Twitter and throughout the media generally with an irreverent photo in front of a White House portrait of Hillary Clinton, the 2016 Democrat presidential nominee and former First Lady.
Apparently, there is precedent for that kind of mocking pose, however, as other Twitter users revealed.
Saying hello to Hillary from the White House that she is not in, other than a portrait, thank God! @KidRock @SarahPalinUSA @TedNugent #MAGA pic.twitter.com/QUjOoHGLBG
— Michael Nöthem (@mikandynothem) April 22, 2017
Unlike the approach taken by many musicians in the aftermath of Election 2016, Sarah Palin’s friend Kid Rock performed at Barack Obama’s inauguration even though he disagreed with the president’s policies and voted for someone else, the New York Times reported.
[Featured Image Colin Young-Wolff/Invision/AP Images]
