FoxNews turns 10

Read more here.

And then Jon Friedman from MarketWatch attended the taping of a program celebrating the tenth birthday of FoxNews (see photos from the event here) and noticed this:

The conventional wisdom (which I, among many others, have spouted over the years) is that Fox has ruled the roost because it shrewdly managed to exploit the red-blue state phenomenon in America and attract a very large, loyal and vocal audience of politically conservative viewers.

But it's hardly the whole (fair and balanced) story.

Competitive spirit

What the public may not appreciate is that Fox boasts a ferocious competitive spirit. Its will to win (read: crush CNN) is probably unmatched in TV journalism. For that reason, above all, Fox's rise is a case study which has relevance to a journalism or business school.

During the taping, I observed a unique spirit among the panelists - and the dozens of their fellow Fox anchors and reporters in the audience. Their attitude, that we're all in this together, was admirable ...

... The Fox taping reminded me of a pep rally for high achievers. All it was lacking was a sports crowd chanting, "We're No. 1! We're No. 1" I listened for it but didn't hear the strains of Queen's anthem, "We Are the Champions."

Maybe Fox wins because it doesn't tolerate any other result. Loyalty is everything. Ultimately, Fox has thrived because the all-for-one-and-one-for-all spirit inside the newsroom has spread to the audience and they want to belong to the Fox world.

Read more here. The final article was Paul J Gough's in The Hollywood Reporter:

There is no question that the Fox News Channel has exceeded all expectations since it signed on Oct. 7, 1996, long before the nation had heard of Monica Lewinsky, blogs, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton or Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Fox News executives remember the laughter and the barbs when plans for the channel were announced by News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch and Fox News CEO Roger Ailes. They recall being ignored by CNN, the longtime leader in cable news, and derided by others in the TV news business.

"This was a mountain that couldn't be climbed," said anchor Shepard Smith, who has been with the channel since it began. It took less than seven years for Fox News to overtake CNN, in the process becoming a part of the national conversation and frequently becoming a lightning rod for partisan passions on both sides of the aisle.

"We came on at the right time, there were a lot of big stories, the competition totally ignored us," senior vp programming Bill Shine said. "We literally sneaked up on them, we hired some very good journalists and shot past our competition." ...

... Shine said about 300 people have been with Fox News since the beginning, a retention that he calls amazing. And he knows why.

"First, Roger is a great boss and a great guy to work for, and having the ability to work with him is something that you never want to pass up," Shine said. "Number two, it's a great company, and it's a great organization. The dirty little secret about Fox News is that it's fun."

Read more here.