Fox News Reportedly Changes Workplace Rules, Adds Muslim Prayer Rugs- ‘People’s Heads Are Blowing Up’
Fox News Makes History, Names Suzanne Scott as Its First Female CEO
By Cillian Zeal
May 19, 2018 at 7:26am
(This article has been updated after a source with knowledge of the room and the situation reached out to The Western Journal after reading our article. That update is included at the bottom of the article. — Ed. note)
It was something thought to be totally impossible a few years ago: Is Fox News going full-on woke?
That’s the question a lot of people are asking after Muslim prayer rugs were added to a “meditation room” in Fox’s Washington bureau, a move that’s sparked a lot of consternation at the network, and not just because of latent Islamophobia.
The report regarding the prayer rugs came from Vanity Fair, which viewed the development approvingly.
Vanity Fair’s Gabriel Sherman notes that “two years after (former CEO Roger) Ailes was fired for sexual harassment, Fox News is getting woke. Today, Lachlan Murdoch announced the network’s longtime programming executive, Suzanne Scott, was being promoted to chief executive of the news organization, noting in the release that she ‘made history as its first female CEO.'”
“Scott’s elevation comes two days after the network announced it had settled the remaining gender and racial discrimination lawsuits from the Ailes era for roughly $10 million,” Sherman adds.
So far, so good. That’s hardly woke, merely cleaning house. However, things get a bit more eh from there.
Sherman writes that “as Fox News adapts its 1950s workplace culture to fit the times, staffers are on edge. According to sources, Fox News recently installed a ‘meditation room’ complete with Muslim prayer rugs in Ollie North’s office in the network’s Washington bureau. (Earlier this month, North left Fox to become the president of the National Rifle Association.)”
“Staffers now attend mandatory sexual harassment training, and the employee intranet includes a section for gender-transition policies and guidelines. ‘People are terrified. They kicked Ollie North out and put in a prayer room. We’ve got a new trans policy. You’re not allowed to be transphobic,’ one source said. Other changes that would have been alien in the Ailes era include the creation of a workforce and diversity council. ‘People’s heads are blowing up,’ one insider said.”
Now, a few things to mention here. Each of these things in isolation wouldn’t make too big of a deal. I know quite a few Muslim conservatives who, should they bring their prayer rugs into Fox News, wouldn’t exactly cause “people’s heads to blow up.” (I don’t think the Muslim liberals I know would cause any heads to blow up, either, although I think the bigger problem there is getting them to set foot inside of Fox News’ offices.)
As for any policy regarding transgender individuals, whatever it contains isn’t elucidated in the article, aside from Sherman assuring us that it’s “trans-inclusive.” Given that Fox seems to still discuss trans issues on air with greater candor than other cable networks, one assumes that this is mostly for the rank-and-file.
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