Fox News is ditching its well-known marketing slogan “Fair & Balanced.”
According to New York Magazine, citing network executives, the decision to abandon the slogan was made last August, shortly after Roger Ailes, the late former chairman and CEO of the cable news network, resigned last July amid sexual harassment allegations. The network will now use its other tagline: “Most Watched. Most Trusted.”
One unnamed insider told the magazine that the phrase had “been mocked,” while another said that it was “too closely associated with Roger.”
Ailes came up with the slogan in 1996 — the same year Fox News Channel began, according to the report. But the slogan went beyond just a branding tactic.
Ailes even used it as guidance when making hiring decisions, New York Magazine reported. As one insider explained to the publication, he would claim a potential employee wasn’t “fair & balanced” because the job candidate attended a college that Ailes didn’t care for.
A Fox News spokesperson confirmed to Fortune that the network hasn’t used the slogan in external marketing or on-air promotions since August 2016, but added, “the shift has nothing to do with programming or editorial decisions.”
