It’s been a wild week for network news. Tucker Carlson, who hosted one of the most popular news shows on television, was suddenly ousted from Fox News, on the heels of both a hostile workplace complaint against him and the network’s settlement in a high-profile lawsuit that began to expose just how brazenly and knowingly Fox News anchors lied on the air. At CNN, longtime anchor Don Lemon was also let go in a move that he said left him “stunned”, and came after public blowback over Lemon’s on-air comments about women. NBC Universal fired CEO Jeff Shell after corroborating a sexual harassment complaint against him.
Much remains unknown about all three terminations, particularly those of Carlson and Lemon. But the ouster of all three does suggest something may have shifted in television newsrooms. The question is whether it’s an elevated commitment to gender equality, or simply more self-interested decisions taking on the veil of morality.
