Red rover red rover, let Shep SMITH come over. On thin ice at Faux.

[UTUSN]

Last edited Thu Aug 9, 2012, 03:00 PM - Edit history (1)

He's got one or a couple of things to sh** or get off the toilet about.


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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/08/shep-smith-fox-news-thin-ice_n_1755454.html?utm_hp_ref=media

[font size=5]IN TROUBLE?
Shep Smith 'On Thin Ice' For Outspokenness, Former Fox News Employee Says[/font]

..... "Shep is on really thin ice," the former employee said. "If he wasn't so popular and highly rated (and highly paid) Roger would have yanked him off the air months ago."

The allegation would go against the more typical theory about Smith's presence at the network: that his independent streak is promoted because it helps deflect the persistent view of Fox News as a right-wing outlet.

Maybe it's just time for Ailes to have a chat with his host, as he told the Daily Beast he does when he feels he has to rein him in.

"Every once in a while Shep Smith gets out there where the buses don't run and we have a friendly talk," he said.

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[DJ13]

1. "Shep is on really thin ice"

"If he wasn't so popular and highly rated"


Maybe theres a lesson there for Fox that not being a GOP robot and speaking your mind can mean nigher ratings?

Oh, who am I kidding........

[libodem]

2. Come back from the darkside, Shep

You can bid on your old soul, if Eric Cantor, hasn't gotten it again, as a rental. Paul Ryan's soul is on ice, in the fish locker. You may borrow it, until yours is cleaned and pressed. I don't know how much it's gunna cost you to buy it back, though?

[Chipper Chat]

3. Shep Smith is holding a candle

in a very dark latrine.

[Taverner]

4. You know, I would like to see Shep on CNN

It would be nice for a "centrist" cable news channel to actually have a centrist reporter

[RZM]

5. I'm actually quite skeptical about this

It seems likely that Shep is something like Fox's 'court dissident.' This means he's deliberately placed front and center to counter the image that Fox is biased. What's more, he hosts their version of a straight-up news show with relatively little commentary, which they can use to argue that they don't skew hard news coverage.

Also, the only source here is a 'former employee' who didn't want his name used. That doesn't mean it's not true, but it's a little thin, source-wise. The quote could also have been planted deliberately by Fox as a way to try to reassure their anti-Shep viewers that they are on the case, but in reality they don't intend to actually do anything.

All things being equal, I'd say signs point toward Shep not leaving Fox anytime soon. I certainly don't think he'd want to, given the money he makes. And I suspect the network won't fire him, given the reasons stated above as well as the fact that he gets good ratings.

[libodem]

6. Fair and balanced

My eye. How can they spit that out with a straight face?