To prepare his team for next week’s debut of the “Fox News Deck,” on Thursday Fox News CEO Roger Ailes sent out an internal memo elaborating on his vision for the network’s Shepard Smith–helmed breaking news division. “The talent will be more like an NFL quarterback with the ability to call audibles when he sees openings,” he said. “We will move seamlessly between the teleprompter and storytelling, and the public will have an opportunity to see how the news is being put together and how the programs are built. This will be more organic in terms of the feed sources including video, all digital, and even social media.” We already saw CNN reporters checking their phones on air during their Boston marathon bombing coverage, so once again, it’s unclear how this will be different.
Another way the Fox News Deck will resemble current breaking news coverage: Sometimes it will be totally wrong. “I expect there to be a few mistakes along the way because this is a high wire act without a net going live to the public,” said Ailes. “Any mistakes, however, will not justify changing the need for a special talent presenting the news and using the most updated technology to inform our public.” If mistakes did call for changing up the breaking news formula, that might be awkward. Shep’s team already “confirmed” on Twitter that there were “shots fired outside the White House” after some guy set off firecrackers.
