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Ray's Reviews > The Loudest Voice in the Room: How the Brilliant, Bombastic Roger Ailes Built Fox News-and Divided a Country
The Loudest Voice in the Room: How the Brilliant, Bombastic Roger Ailes Built Fox News-and Divided a Country
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This is a very important book for understanding America (and it's place in the world) over the past twenty years.
It can certainly be argued that Roger Ailes has been one of the most important historical figures shaping the world that we live in right now. And it that sense, I mean, shaping it for the worse.
The Loudest Voice is a fascinating portrait of a political genius of the right and his long career in television. In his youth, from working as a talk show producer to a stint on Broadway believe it or not, Ailes certainly comes across as an interesting guy even if it's all just foreshadowing for the powerful force he will become later.
As we get into politics, campaigns, and ultimately Fox News, the scope of the book widens. It isn't only about Ailes, we also get to read up about the backstories of such iconic characters as Richard Nixon, Rupert Murdoch, Ted Turner; and eventually those terrible talking heads Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly, and Glenn Beck. As well as of course Fox, there's much to be said about behind-the-scenes action in the cable news wars between CNN and MSNBC as the networks are founded and evolve--or rather, devolve--over the years.
Roger Ailes, ultimately, is a villain. There's no question of that. Fox was problematic from the start. From the Clinton years, to war-mongering in the Bush years, and in the end Fox completely goes off the rails in the Obama years. With much juicy gossip as the ruthless Murdoch family fights along the way...
Although it's several years old now, the book is an excellent companion for fans of the underrated Showtime series The Loudest Voice. However, for anyone who had been following Ailes' true story, the book disppitates around the 2012 election in which Obama was reelected. It doesn't get to the shocking more recent history of when Ailes is fired for the sexual harassment of Gretchen Carlson, followed by the insane shakeup of 2016 as the right's anti-intellectual monster became fully out of control, and then he died.
Roger Ailes was a man who helped make America a worse place. He was a sexist, a liar, and utilized every racist dirty trick he could come up with to win and reshape the information wars in his own image. Now we are in a post-truth world that he was arguably personally responsible for.
Despite the pessimism this all leaves with the reader, it is important to learn these things. Often times in the story, Ailes and his extreme rightist cronies were underestimated by the "establishment" again and again. Let us take these dangers seriously, and never again underestimate the power of cynical pandering to the worst of America. Let us learn from them, and then fight harder.
It can certainly be argued that Roger Ailes has been one of the most important historical figures shaping the world that we live in right now. And it that sense, I mean, shaping it for the worse.
The Loudest Voice is a fascinating portrait of a political genius of the right and his long career in television. In his youth, from working as a talk show producer to a stint on Broadway believe it or not, Ailes certainly comes across as an interesting guy even if it's all just foreshadowing for the powerful force he will become later.
As we get into politics, campaigns, and ultimately Fox News, the scope of the book widens. It isn't only about Ailes, we also get to read up about the backstories of such iconic characters as Richard Nixon, Rupert Murdoch, Ted Turner; and eventually those terrible talking heads Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly, and Glenn Beck. As well as of course Fox, there's much to be said about behind-the-scenes action in the cable news wars between CNN and MSNBC as the networks are founded and evolve--or rather, devolve--over the years.
Roger Ailes, ultimately, is a villain. There's no question of that. Fox was problematic from the start. From the Clinton years, to war-mongering in the Bush years, and in the end Fox completely goes off the rails in the Obama years. With much juicy gossip as the ruthless Murdoch family fights along the way...
Although it's several years old now, the book is an excellent companion for fans of the underrated Showtime series The Loudest Voice. However, for anyone who had been following Ailes' true story, the book disppitates around the 2012 election in which Obama was reelected. It doesn't get to the shocking more recent history of when Ailes is fired for the sexual harassment of Gretchen Carlson, followed by the insane shakeup of 2016 as the right's anti-intellectual monster became fully out of control, and then he died.
Roger Ailes was a man who helped make America a worse place. He was a sexist, a liar, and utilized every racist dirty trick he could come up with to win and reshape the information wars in his own image. Now we are in a post-truth world that he was arguably personally responsible for.
Despite the pessimism this all leaves with the reader, it is important to learn these things. Often times in the story, Ailes and his extreme rightist cronies were underestimated by the "establishment" again and again. Let us take these dangers seriously, and never again underestimate the power of cynical pandering to the worst of America. Let us learn from them, and then fight harder.
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Kelley
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Aug 20, 2019 05:17AM
Great review, Ray! Seems like an interesting book.
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Kelley wrote: "Great review, Ray! Seems like an interesting book."Thank you, hope you get the chance to read or at least see the Loudest Voice series!
