Fox News Executive, Bill Shine, Departs Amid Turmoil - By MICHAEL M. GRYNBAUM and EMILY STEELMAY 1, 2017 Fox News on Monday removed one of its most powerful executives, Bill Shine, another seismic shake-up at a network that remains in crisis mode as its owner, Rupert Murdoch, moves to steer it past the sexual harassment scandal that first engulfed it last summer. In announcing Mr. Shine’s departure, Mr. Murdoch praised the executive as “respected and liked by everyone at Fox News,” adding in a news release, “His contribution to our channel and our country will resonate for many years.” Mr. Murdoch also announced that Ms. Scott would become president for programming and Jay Wallace would become president for news. Shine — who was selected by Mr. Murdoch, the executive chairman of 21st Century Fox, for his job last summer — is also likely to roil some of Fox News’s most recognizable stars, including Sean Hannity, a close friend of the ousted co-president. Mr. Shine’s exit comes 10 months after Mr. Ailes was toppled by a sexual harassment scandal, and less than two weeks since the departure of Bill O’Reilly, the one-time king of cable news whose reign abruptly ended after revelations in that he and Fox News paid millions of dollars to five women who accused Mr. O’Reilly of harassment. Shine, a network co-president and a longtime lieutenant to its disgraced former chairman, Roger Ailes, was viewed by some employees as a symbol of Fox News’s old-guard leadership even as its parent, 21st Century Fox, pledged reforms to the company culture and a new era of civility in the newsroom. He was promoted to lead Fox News with Mr. Abernethy after Mr. Ailes’s departure, and was seen as a source of stability in the news division at a turbulent time.
