6. “I’m going to D.C.” Author interview with a person familiar with the matter.
7. Ailes praised Beck Author interview with a person familiar with the matter.
8. Brian Lewis Author interview with a former Fox News producer.
9. Beck, who had graced the covers Lacey Rose, “Glenn Beck Inc.,” Forbes, April 26, 2010; David von Drehle, “Mad Man: Is Glenn Beck Bad for America?,” Time, Sept. 28, 2009; Mark Leibovich, “Being Glenn Beck,” New York Times Magazine, Sept. 29, 2010.
10. “Beck had his own” Mercury Radio Arts employed Manhattan PR firm Hiltzik Strategies.
11. Tensions continued Steve Kraukauer, “Exclusive: Glenn Beck Launches ‘News and Opinion’ Website, The Blaze,” Mediaite, Aug. 30, 2010, http://www.mediaite.com/online/exclusive-glenn-beck-launches-news-and-opinion-website-the-blaze-tonight/.
12. Fox executives told Author interview with a person familiar with the matter.
13. At times, The Blaze Emily Esfahani Smith, “Ends vs. Means: The Ethics of Undercover Journalism,” The Blaze, March 9, 2011. See also Sherman, “The Elephant in the Green Room.”
14. Beck’s company Bill Carter, “Former Huffington Post Chief Is Hired to Run Glenn Beck Site,” New York Times, Jan. 6, 2011. See also David Bauder, “Glenn Beck’s Fox Show Ending,” Associated Press, April 7, 2011.
15. Brian Lewis retaliated Nellie Andreeva, “Glenn Beck’s Exec Expected to Leave Fox News,” Deadline Hollywood, March 21, 2011, http://www.deadline.com/2011/03/Glenn-Becks-exec-to-leave-fox-news/.
16. Reporters began Scott Collins and Melissa Maerz, “Fox Gives Beck Show the Boot,” Los Angeles Times, April 7, 2011. See also Robert Quigley, “Advertisers Wimp Out: ‘Boycott’ Glenn Beck, but Stay on Fox News,” Mediaite, Aug. 11, 2009, http://www.mediaite.com/tv/advertisers-wimp-out-boycott-glenn-beck-but-stay-on-fox-news/.
17. On April 6 Collins and Maerz, “Fox Gives Beck’s Show the Boot.”
18. When the Affordable Author interview with a senior producer.
19. In the summer of 2010 Sherman, “The Elephant in the Green Room.”
20. “I still like” Jonathan Alter, The Center Holds: Obama and His Enemies (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2013), 179.
21. In April 2011 Bob Woodward, “Fox Chief Proposed Petraeus Campaign,” Washington Post, Dec. 4, 2012. See also “Petraeus in 2011 Fox News Interview: ‘I’m Not Running for President’ ” (audio), Washington Post, Dec. 3, 2012, http://www.washingtonpost.com/posttv/lifestyle/style/petraeus-in-2011-fox-news-interview-im-not-running-for-president/2012/12/03/c0aa0c72-3d6d-11e2-a2d9-822f58ac9fd5_video.html. Ailes told Woodward that his outreach to Petraeus was “a joke.” The day Woodward’s article appeared, McFarland wrote a column on Foxnews.com taking the blame for the scandal. “I know now that Roger was joking, but at the time, I wasn’t sure,” she wrote. According to a close McFarland friend, she wrote it under pressure from Ailes after she was banned from Fox shows. Ailes’s remark “was not a joke,” the friend said. “She was devastated by it.”
22. “He adored Petraeus” Author interview with a senior executive at Fox News. See also Jake Tapper, “MoveOn.org Ad Takes Aim at Petraeus,” ABCNews (blog), Sept. 10, 2007, http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/Decision2008/Story?ID=3581727.
23. Around this time Author interview with a person familiar with the matter. A spokeswoman for the Kochs said that Charles Koch did not fly to New York. “A third party suggested a meeting but it was never scheduled,” she said.
24. “Listen, the premise” Author conversation with Roger Ailes.
25. In the winter of 2011 Author interview with a person familiar with the matter.
26. The first Fox primary debate Karen Tumulty, “Stage Set for First GOP Debate. So Where Are the Candidates?,” Washington Post, May 5, 2011.
27. “I still owe you one” Author interview with a person familiar with the matter. See also Carr and Arango, “A Fox Chief at the Pinnacle of Media and Politics.”
28. The Ailes-backed conservative Author interviews with Philipstown residents.
29. Stewart even promised Kevin E. Foley, “Readers Can Affect Forum Questions,” Philipstown.info, Oct. 2, 2011.
30. cover story Murdock, “This Is the Most Powerful Man in News.”
31. That day, several Author interview with a Putnam County resident.
32. After Beth gave Liz Schevtchuk Armstrong, “Shea and Erickson Clash on Dirt Roads, Zoning Stance, Governance and More,” Philipstown.info, Oct. 26, 2011.
33. Shea won decisively Douglas Cunningham, “Election Day 2011,” Putnam County News & Recorder, Nov. 9, 2011.
34. Republicans referred to Author interview with Republican officials.
35. “It’s like a town hall” Jeff Zeleny, “The Up-Close-and-Personal Candidate? A Thing of the Past,” New York Times, Dec. 1, 2011.
36. In the last eight months “The Fox Primary: 8 Months, 12 Candidates, 604 Appearances, 4644 Minutes,” Media Matters for America, Feb. 27, 2012, http://mediamatters.org/blog/2012/02/27/the-fox-primary-8-months-12-candidates-604-appe/185876.
37. “I’m sorry, we’re only” Author interview with a senior CNN producer.
38. “He doesn’t like green energy” Author interview with a senior producer.
39. “Governor Huckabee” Michael D. Shear, “Huckabee a Candidate? Tune In at 8,” New York Times, May 14, 2011.
40. On the night of May 14 Jack Mirkinson, “Mike Huckabee Gets Mixed Ratings for Presidential Announcement,” Huffington Post, May 17, 2011, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/17/mike-huckabee-gets-mixed-_n_863073.html.
41. Ailes, like any director Gabriel Sherman, “Sarah Palin Got Scolded by a Furious Roger Ailes,” New York, Nov. 21, 2011.
42. In October, Sarah Palin Michael D. Shear, “After Summer of Speculation, Palin Says She Won’t Join the 2012 Race,” New York Times, Oct. 6, 2011. See also: Sherman, “The Elephant in the Green Room.”
43. In a private conversation Author interview with a person familiar with the conversation.
44. Romney’s shaky interview “Interview with Mitt Romney” (transcript), Finance Wire, Nov. 29, 2011.
45. Romney’s campaign did not think Author interview with a Romney adviser.
46. When the cameras cut Jack Mirkinson, “Mitt Romney Complained About Fox News Interview,” Huffington Post, Dec. 1, 2011, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/01/mitt-romney-fox-news-bret-baier_n_1122801.html.
47. After receiving just “Republican Primary Map” (interactive graphic), New York Times, http://elections.nytimes.com/2012/primaries/results, accessed Nov. 15, 2013.