Roger & Me — The man behind the network

When Fox News Channel launched in October 1996, Roger Ailes confidently told all us worker bees we would be beating CNN in the ratings within five years. We all appropriately nodded and smiled — desperately hoping our important boss man wouldn’t pick up on our unbelief.

After all, ABC, which knew a thing or two about cable success with cash cow ESPN, begged off from getting into the 24-7 news business, figuring the market was already tapped out and CNN’s dominance would likely continue forever. Most media watchers at the time suggested that taking on CNN would be a fool’s errand, not to mention a giant waste of money — not that Rupert Murdock didn’t have plenty of it sloshing around, especially after the success of the film “Titanic” in 1997.

Roger was unfazed. The truest of believers, he and his little network that could were beating CNN regularly after just a few short years.

Later, after I stepped down as the network’s senior producer on Capitol Hill to join a presidential campaign that lasted all of 17 seconds, Roger invited me up to his NYC office to have a chat.

I had met Roger and his beautiful wife, Beth, at a few D.C. social events over the years, but had never been to his office, let alone offered an opportunity to have a one-on-one conversation of any significance.

As I boarded my train at D.C.’s Union Station headed for New York, I felt a little like I was headed to the principal’s office for a serious scolding, about being a stupid, ungrateful little snot for having left the hottest television network on the planet, not to mention royally screwing up my once promising journalism career in the nation’s capital.

{mosads}After I walked into Roger’s office in the inner sanctum of Fox News headquarters, I gave him a brief recap of the series of events that led to me sitting in front of him. I figured I would simply confess I had messed up big time and shouldn’t have ever left Fox in the first place. Instantly, Roger waived me off from my mea culpa: “It happens. No big deal. How can I help you get back on track?” 

At this point we discussed several ideas about how I could come back to the network without upsetting the apple cart any further than I already had.

After a while, I asked Roger why he was spending so much worrying about me. After all, it wasn’t like I was some high-flying television personality or top-rated anchor that Fox was trying to recruit. I was your standard, off-the-shelf producer type in need of a little career help. To be honest, a job in the cafeteria was sounding pretty good to me at this point.

What Roger said next absolutely floored me:

“Normally, in the world of media when folks get in any kind of trouble, people immediately back away from them. Whenever I see that happening, that’s when I move in.”

That’s how you cultivate loyalty and build a team destined for success.

And that’s how you win friends for life.

In the middle of working up a proposal on one of the ideas that Roger asked me to pursue, I received an offer to write columns full-time at The Hill. Column writing had always been a dream of mine, and in an exchange of emails, Roger encouraged me to pursue it. “My door’s open to you if you ever want to come back,” he said. I was again floored by Roger’s graciousness and understanding.

My story about Roger Ailes is not unique. Just about anyone who has ever been lucky enough to be around him for any length of time has a similar story. That said, the recent stories of sexual harassment by Roger have been incredibly troubling, especially after having worked with some of the fine journalists who have made the charges.

Often, when folks ask me about my time on Capitol Hill, they want to know if a particular politician is nice, honest, fun, smart, etc. Apart from the politics of the day, I generally tell those folks about how that particular politician treated me personally. Right-wing, left-wing — never really mattered much to me. 

In recent weeks, lots of folks have been asking me about Roger. Without any pretense or reservation, and harassment charges notwithstanding, I always say: “Roger always had my back.”

It was a privilege to know him.

Jim Mills is a former producer for Fox News and C-SPAN and former columnist for The Hill newspaper, and served as national campaign spokesman for Fred Thompson’s 2008 presidential campaign. The bestselling co-author of “Special Heart” with Bret Baier, Mills continues his writing career in Myrtle Beach, S.C.

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