Bill Shine Steps Out From Behind the Scenes to Lead Fox News
He is seen in the newsroom as embodying a typical Fox News viewer: an Irish-Catholic family man, son of a New York City police officer. His wife is the author of “Happy Housewives,” an ode to female empowerment through 1950s-style domesticity.
.. Mr. Shine is emphatically a member of the network’s old guard, with a reputation as a corporate survivor and an assiduous flatterer. Some at Fox wondered if he would be kept on after his name, along with those of other executives, surfaced in recent accounts by two women who accused Mr. Ailes of harassment.
.. In news meetings, Mr. Shine is known less for voicing strident political views than for suggesting segments that prove popular with viewers, like stories about the gas tax.
.. When Liz Claman, a Fox Business anchor, complained to Mr. Shine last year about what she viewed as too much politics in the coverage, Mr. Shine dismissed her complaint by noting that her ratings were among the lowest on the channel
.. carrot-and-stick style impressed Mr. Ailes, who often asked Mr. Shine to handle an upset anchor.
.. Ms. Shine’s book, published in 2005 by Judith Regan, then an executive at Fox News’s parent company, was a response to the series “Desperate Housewives.” The book urged women to “shut up, stop whining, and for goodness’ sake, stop nagging your husband.”
.. His wife, on her blog, occasionally delves into politics, writing last month, “I am afraid of our debt, afraid for my children, afraid we have lost the American Dream.” She has also described her concerns about the health effects of vaccinations.