In New York magazine, Gabriel Sherman—the author of The Loudest Voice in the Room—|http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/07/murdochs-have-decided-to-remove-roger-ailes.html#|reported| yesterday that Rupert Murdoch and his two sons are planning to get rid of Roger Ailes, the Fox News boss who has been sued by Gretchen Carlson for sexual harassment. 21st Century Fox, the network’s parent company, has recently hired a private law firm to conduct an independent review of the Ailes case. The company’s executives quickly responded to the New York article, saying that the Ailes case “is not yet resolved, and the review is not concluded,” but, as the New York Times points out, the denial’s tone is chilly, a far cry from an earlier statement saying that 21st Century Fox had “full confidence” in Ailes.
As the Republican National Convention got off to a "fiery" start yesterday in Cleveland, with anti-Trump delegates calling for a floor fight and allegations that Melania Trump plagiarized parts of Michelle Obama's 2008 convention speech, a Cleveland.com reporter wanted to know what RNC delegates thought about her city. The verdict, she writes, was that "we impressed them with our friendliness, our food and our police force."
Tony Schwartz, Donald Trump’s ghostwriter for The Art of the Deal, is making the media rounds, warning the public about how "terrifying" he thinks a Trump presidency would be. Schwartz expressed extreme regret about ghostwriting the book in a New Yorker profile by Jane Mayer (which reached one million views five hours after it was posted). Schwartz also made his way to Good Morning America, where he said that a Trump presidency “would end civilization as we know it." The National Review notes that “Schwartz is a liberal tortured now by thoughts that he helped launch Trump from New York tabloid fodder to national icon, so draw your own conclusions about his credibility,” but concedes that Schwartz's description of Trump as unfocused and uninterested in books is “wholly consistent with his public behavior—the rambling speeches and interviews . . . the inability to describe in depth any of his own proposals, the unfamiliarity a year into the campaign with the basics of American civics.”
Gavin Eugene Long, the gunman who shot six police officers in Baton Rouge on Sunday, had self-published three books comprised of, as the Los Angeles Times puts it, “New Age-style jargon, pseudoscience, motivational bromides, health tips and racial theory.” Amazon removed the books from its website on Monday afternoon.
After reporting on Politico’s leadership struggle and how it tore the newsroom apart, author Luke Mullins conducted a Reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything) where he explains the high burnout rate at Politico and reflects on the possibilities for the publication’s future under recently-announced editor Carrie Budoff Brown. Writing about the up-to-the-minute breaking news coverage that made Politico famous, Mullins says he “can’t imagine things getting any more saturated than they are right now—but I probably would have said that a couple years ago.” According to the AMA, there’s still no word on Politico founder and former CEO Jim VandeHei’s next project.
Former London Mayor Boris Johnson’s new position as UK foreign secretary doesn’t leave him much time for writing. Johnson was expected to publish Shakespeare: The Riddle of Genius in October, but has now put the project, which reportedly came with a £500,000 advance, on hold. Johnson, who wrote the 2014 book The Churchill Factor, has also given up his weekly column for The Telegraph.
