美国国家公共电台 NPR As Scandals Crest, Fox News Once More Under Siege

 

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

And the Fox News Channel is once more under siege. Last summer, the ouster of chairman Roger Ailes during a huge scandal was intended to calm the place down. Yet, multiple scandals have erupted at Fox. As NPR's David Folkenflik reports, major advertisers are now pulling commercials from the show of Fox News' top star Bill O'Reilly.

DAVID FOLKENFLIK, BYLINE¹: Julie Roginsky has been a paid commentator² for Fox News since late 2011. On Monday, she sued Ailes saying he yanked away a promised promotion³ when she refused his sexual advances. Roginsky also sued the network's current president and its chief lawyer for retaliation⁴. Yet, there she was yesterday morning on Fox News. It was a surreal moment. No mention of the suit as Roginsky lit into President Trump⁵.

(SOUNDBITE OF FOX NEWS BROADCAST)

JULIE ROGINSKY: He took something about President Obama that was completely false...

FOLKENFLIK: A rare Fox News liberal who can hold her own, here's Roginsky several years ago with Fox News' Andrea Tantaros.

(SOUNDBITE OF FOX NEWS BROADCAST)

ANDREA TANTAROS: And you think that he was wrong to support private equity⁶ in that quote.

ROGINSKY: Well, no, no. I think...

FOLKENFLIK: With former host Gretchen Carlson.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE REAL STORY")

GRETCHEN CARLSON: If you weren't going to talk about Obamacare...

ROGINSKY: Well, if you look at the Chamber⁷ of Commerce and other business...

FOLKENFLIK: And with former host Megyn Kelly.

(SOUNDBITE OF FOX NEWS BROADCAST)

MEGYN KELLY: Julie Roginsky, you just gave birth to a baby this year.

FOLKENFLIK: Aside from being on Fox News, the women you just heard all share a bond. Each woman has alleged⁸ that Ailes sexually harassed⁹ her, which Ailes denies, blaming an orchestrated campaign against him. Tantaros alleges¹⁰ Bill O'Reilly also sexually harassed her. So does Wendy Walsh.

WENDY WALSH: After three weeks of appearances on his show, I received an email from his assistant saying Mr. O'Reilly would like to have dinner with you.

FOLKENFLIK: Walsh is a psychologist and a former TV news anchor. She had been auditioning¹¹ for O'Reilly.

WALSH: To be a paid contributor at Fox News, which is, I believe, the highest rated in cable news is a very big opportunity.

FOLKENFLIK: Walsh tells NPR that dinner ensued at Wolfgang Puck's restaurant at the Bel-Air Hotel in LA. At the start, she says, O'Reilly said the job was hers.

WALSH: At the end of the dinner, he simply said, let's get out of here. And we stood up and walked out. And if you know the configuration¹² of the Bel-Air Hotel, after you leave the hostess stand, if you turn to the right, you walk towards the bedrooms. If you turn to the left, you're walking towards the bar. And a kind of awkward thing happened that we both walked a different direction away from each other - me to the bar, him toward the rooms.

FOLKENFLIK: Walsh alleges she said, no. At the bar, O'Reilly told her, no paying gig. O'Reilly's show generates hundreds of millions of dollars a year from ads and is the network's biggest moneymaker. The New York Times reported this past weekend that O'Reilly, Fox News and its parent company have paid $13 million to women who have complained he harassed them. O'Reilly says he's only a target because he's famous and only settles complaints to protect his children.

The parent company, 21st Century Fox, says O'Reilly promises he takes the company's commitment to a healthy workplace seriously. Wendy Walsh never sought any money. Lisa Bloom is her lawyer.

LISA BLOOM: It's absolutely shocking to me that there's this toxic¹³ culture at Fox News where they seem to think that paying out millions of dollars annually¹⁴ is just a normal part of doing business. It's not. And it's not legal. No matter how much money they pay doesn't make it legal.

FOLKENFLIK: Three African-American employees just sued Fox for racial discrimination by longtime executive Judith Slater. Fox News says it's taken care of the problem. It fired Slater 10 days ago. One plaintiff alleges she told Fox's top lawyer, that's Dianne Brandi, about the discrimination two and a half years ago and that Brandi did nothing. Fox News has in the past blasted its accusers and blamed competitors in the mainstream¹⁵ media for covering its troubles.

Right now it's uncharacteristically subdued¹⁶. A growing number of prominent advertisers has pulled commercials from O'Reilly's show, including car manufacturers and pharmaceutical¹⁷ companies. David Folkenflik, NPR News, New York.

1 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

2 commentator   

n.注释者，解说者；实况广播评论员

参考例句：

• He is a good commentator because he can get across the game.他能简单地解说这场比赛，是个好的解说者。
• The commentator made a big mistake during the live broadcast.在直播节目中评论员犯了个大错误。

3 promotion   

n.提升，晋级；促销，宣传

参考例句：

• The teacher conferred with the principal about Dick's promotion.教师与校长商谈了迪克的升级问题。
• The clerk was given a promotion and an increase in salary.那个职员升了级，加了薪。

4 retaliation   

n.报复，反击

参考例句：

• retaliation against UN workers 对联合国工作人员的报复
• He never said a single word in retaliation. 他从未说过一句反击的话。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

6 equity   

n.公正，公平，（无固定利息的）股票

参考例句：

• They shared the work of the house with equity.他们公平地分担家务。
• To capture his equity,Murphy must either sell or refinance.要获得资产净值，墨菲必须出售或者重新融资。

7 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

8 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

9 harassed   

adj. 疲倦的，厌烦的 动词harass的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He has complained of being harassed by the police. 他投诉受到警方侵扰。
• harassed mothers with their children 带着孩子的疲惫不堪的母亲们

10 alleges   

断言，宣称，辩解( allege的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The newspaper article alleges that the mayor is corrupt. 报纸上断言该市长腐败。
• Steven was tardy this morning and alleges that his bus was late. 史提芬今天早上迟到的说词是公车误点了。

11 auditioning   

vi.试听（audition的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• She was auditioning for the role of Lady Macbeth. 她试演了麦克佩斯夫人的角色。
• Which part are you auditioning for? 你试音什么角色？ 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 configuration   

n.结构，布局，形态，(计算机)配置

参考例句：

• Geographers study the configuration of the mountains.地理学家研究山脉的地形轮廓。
• Prices range from $119 to $199,depending on the particular configuration.价格因具体配置而异，从119美元至199美元不等。

13 toxic   

adj.有毒的，因中毒引起的

参考例句：

• The factory had accidentally released a quantity of toxic waste into the sea.这家工厂意外泄漏大量有毒废物到海中。
• There is a risk that toxic chemicals might be blasted into the atmosphere.爆炸后有毒化学物质可能会进入大气层。

14 annually   

adv.一年一次，每年

参考例句：

• Many migratory birds visit this lake annually.许多候鸟每年到这个湖上作短期逗留。
• They celebrate their wedding anniversary annually.他们每年庆祝一番结婚纪念日。

15 mainstream   

n.（思想或行为的）主流；adj.主流的

参考例句：

• Their views lie outside the mainstream of current medical opinion.他们的观点不属于当今医学界观点的主流。
• Polls are still largely reflects the mainstream sentiment.民调还在很大程度上反映了社会主流情绪。

16 subdued   

adj. 屈服的，柔和的，减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He seemed a bit subdued to me. 我觉得他当时有点闷闷不乐。
• I felt strangely subdued when it was all over. 一切都结束的时候，我却有一种奇怪的压抑感。

17 pharmaceutical   

adj.药学的，药物的；药用的，药剂师的

参考例句：

• She has donated money to establish a pharmaceutical laboratory.她捐款成立了一个药剂实验室。
• We are engaged in a legal tussle with a large pharmaceutical company.我们正同一家大制药公司闹法律纠纷。