Fox News dropped its 'Fair and Balanced' slogan a year ago and no one noticed
While we've spent the last year being distracted by a continuous, raging dumpster fire of awful news, Fox News quietly moved away from its iconic "Fair and Balanced" slogan and no one really noticed.
New York magazine reporter and former Roger Ailes nemesis Gabriel Sherman reported on the change on Wednesday but notes the decision was actually made last year, not long after Ailes was forced out of his role as CEO and chairman of the network over mounting sexual harassment allegations.
Confirming the move as an attempt to distance the network from the now-deceased Ailes, one exec told Sherman the "Fair and Balanced" slogan, coined by Ailes and used since the network's 1996 launch, was "too closely associated with Roger."
The slogan has been synonymous with the 24-hour news channel since its inception, even as critics have used the phrase ironically thanks to personalities (like Sean Hannity) and shows (like Fox & Friends) that hardly follow that rule.
An insider close to the matter told Mashable that while the slogan was no longer being used for on-air promotions and other external marketing, the phrase is still something of an editorial mantra--host Bret Baier still closes his show with it.
According to Sherman, the network will be pushing another slogan -- “Most Watched. Most Trusted" -- from now on.
It's also worth noting that this isn't the only slogan that Fox has moved on from, indicating that the changes were part of a larger overhaul in the post-Ailes era.
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So while the move isn't breaking news, that didn't keep those critical of the network from weighing in.
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If you still need help with your branding, Fox, we think "Fox News: We're just sayin'" could work, too.
Additional reporting by Maggie Sullivan
Marcus Gilmer is Mashable's Assistant Real-Times News Editor on the West Coast, reporting on breaking news from his location in San Francisco. An Alabama native, Marcus earned his BA from Birmingham-Southern College and his MFA in Communications from the University of New Orleans. Marcus has previously worked for Chicagoist, The A.V. Club, the Chicago Sun-Times and the San Francisco Chronicle.
