The Fox News Chairman and CEO spoke to about 350 people, including young journalists Thursday as part of a special lecture series at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He started by telling them to change majors, which Melody Butts reports, “elicited at least a few eye rolls.” Here’s what else he said:
- “If you’re going into journalism if you care, then you’re going into the wrong profession … I usually ask (journalists) if they want to change the world in the way it wants to be changed.”
- “Democracy depends on freedom of the press. But freedom depends on fairness in the press. There has to be more than one point of view.”
- “Remember, the last time all of us got lined up together, we were lined up by two guys – Hitler and Stalin. If there’s an alternative point of view, don’t wet your pants. … Suck it up and say, ‘Hey, there’s room for everything.’”
- “We’re the only news organization who has not had layoffs because of economic conditions. Why? Because we win.”
- His strength: “I pick good people … although some people point out that most of them are blond … when women get into television, they dye their hair blond.”
- On Jon Stewart: “I don’t think he could make a living without FOX News. I think he likes FOX.”
- On Newt: “Newt is trying to get a job at CNN because he knows he can’t come back to Fox News.”
- On Fox News mole: “The mole shows a culture that believes in theft, a lack of loyalty, turning on his colleagues, lying to management, and there are some real, ethical, serious questions about it.”
Read more at Poynter.
