The sexual harassment scandal at Fox is growing as Jamie Horowitz, the head of programming at Fox Sports has been fired.
The LA Times reported, “Horowitz’s dismissal came less than a week after 21st Century Fox began investigating allegations of sexual harassment in the workplace at Fox Sports. The company hired a law firm, which began interviewing women at Fox Sports about Horowitz’s behavior, according to a person familiar with the investigation who was not authorized to publicly discuss it. Several women, including prominent on-air personalities, have already been interviewed about their treatment at Fox Sports, according to two people familiar with the investigation.”
If this all has a familiar ring to it, it should. It sounds like the investigation at Fox Sports is following the same path and finding the same behaviors as the scandal that has decimated Fox News.
The harassment at Fox News and Fox Sports is part of a wider problem of the treatment of women in the media industry. Women are objectified to varying degrees at all levels of television and video media. Many local markets will let the ratings dominant male anchor work until he is 100 and falling apart at the desk, but women have to look young, or else they are replaced by co-anchors who are younger.
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Sexual harassment of women in media isn’t limited to video formats. Women in print and digital are harassed on a daily basis by bosses, co-workers, and readers.
The scandals at Fox are a symptom of a bigger problem that the white male dominated leadership of mainstream US media doesn’t want to talk about. Fox News and Sports were more overt in their harassment and discrimination, but the problem will only continue to grow until media industry leadership is more diverse and not a while old boys club.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
