Roger Ailes and FOX-News

FOX News gets a somewhat gentle takedown by Howie Kurtz, who interviews Roger Ailes.

Ailes is one of the most well-like guys in the news business. This morning on Imus on MSNBC, Maureen Dowd confessed she likes the guy. In the article, Graydon Carter says Roger is a friend. Howie quotes Carter in the piece:

The onetime Republican operative remains acutely sensitive to any slights, pulling out of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences after Fox News was repeatedly shut out in Emmy nominations. Ailes wrote the academy head in 2002 that the award-winning stories were "those that reinforce the views and prejudices of your judges. . . . Earth to academy: your bias is showing."

Vanity Fair recently pegged Ailes as No. 44 on its New Establishment list, calling him "the most powerful news executive in America." But it also called him "the man who gives the Bush administration a major media outlet" and described Dick Cheney -- who demands that his hotel TVs be preset to Fox -- as his "big loyal friend."

"Vanity Fair is a left-wing rag," says Ailes, adding a moment later that its editor, Graydon Carter, is a friend. Ailes says the magazine's item is "just blatantly false" because he has met Cheney only a half-dozen times. Responds Carter: "Roger is the smartest guy in TV. Unfortunately, he's working for the wrong side."

FOX is starting to lose traction in the ratings---although Kurtz doesn't admit that its humongous 2 to 1 lead over CNN is not threatened much:

While Fox remains No. 9 among all cable networks, some slippage in the ratings during the past year has Ailes concerned. For the past three months, Fox is down 28 percent from the same period last year, compared with declines of 21 percent for CNN and 12 percent for MSNBC.

Ailes responded with a recruitment ad that included such lines as "Can You Work Well With People Without Being a Territorial Jerk?" and "When You're Tired, Can You Keep Going Without Whining or Making Mistakes?" He also summoned executives to a 5 a.m. meeting to critique morning programming. "Sometimes we get ourselves thinking our job is to send memos to each other. I wanted to make them justify their paycheck."

Murdoch is also laughing all the way to the bank with his network, with shows like American Idol, House, and 24 with devoted viewerships. Ailes still rankles, though:

If the paunchy 66-year-old executive sounds as though he still harbors sharp resentments toward a liberal-leaning world, that bristling attitude is embedded in his network's genetic code as well. Ailes says he recently considered retiring but rejected the idea because, well, there are too many things that still tick him off.

Never mind that he got a big promotion last year, with owner Rupert Murdoch putting him in charge of Fox's local television stations as well as what has become the top-rated cable news channel.

Between Roger at FoxNews and Karl Rove orchestrating in the WH, the Republicans are not ready yet to turn over and play dead.