Fox News host Shepard Smith recently became more public about his homosexuality. One might think that would correspond directly with a pink slip, if one were to believe the stereotypes about conservatives and Fox News.
The truth, however, is that Fox is actually the most LGBT friendly network when it comes to hiring practices, believe it or not. If Smith was looking for a job as a neophyte gay news analyst today, he would be more likely to get that job at Fox than at ABC or NBC.
Statistics and perspective often clash when politics is involved. However, you can usually count on people not to bite the very hand that feeds them. Ever since his announcement (and honestly, before it as well), Shepard Smith has spent an inordinate amount of time on and off air bashing conservatives. His main line of contention is that conservative Christians are less inclusive than they should be concerning the LGBT lifestyle.
At the same time that Shepard makes his private lifestyle public, he states this in interviews about his homosexuality:
“I don’t think about it,” Smith said. “It’s not a thing. I go to work. I manage a lot of people.”
Pardon?
In the same breath as he publicly states that he does not think about his private life while telling everyone he can about it, he also describes Fox News as “the craziest conservative network on Earth,” as reported by WND. Critics may have a point when they say that Shepard is beginning to sound more like an LGBT activist than a newsman.
Aside from the diversity statistics mentioned above, Fox News has also consistently funded grants for the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association. So what exactly is Shepard’s problem?
It may be time for Fox News to drop the hammer on its newly activist news host. With ratings dropping behind CNN in prime time, Fox really does not have room for insubordination within its own ranks. How can the network expect Shepard to properly to delivery objective reports of news items when it is obvious that his number one concern is LGBT issues – issues that really are not present within the ranks of his employer?
Taking a look at Fox’s competition, MSNBC seems to be making good on its investment in Megyn Kelly. The former Fox host is set to begin her executive visionary power over the network in earnest. If viewers find a cleaner conservative perspective on MSNBC than on Fox, they are sure to switch – albeit after a colossal change in branding.
You can also bet that Kelly, a former colleague of Shepard, will use the weaknesses that he has exposed to drive traffic to her new employer.
President Donald Trump is another issue. The LGBT community has not forgiven some of the remarks that Trump made during his campaign, and Shepard may be just the inside man that the community needs to strike back at the administration. However, this has to be the worst mole job in the history of espionage. Shepard long ago outed himself as a single issue newsman, and Fox continues to hold onto him. Why?
The Washington Post reports that executives within the Fox News infrastructure are not worried about conservative viewers leaving the network. Trump doesn’t scare them, so Shepard definitely doesn’t scare them.
Here’s the thing: There are also rumors of Shepard looking to leave the network. It does not look good if Shepard is allowed to lead the breakup process. Over the past year or so, Fox has lost Greta Van Susteren, Megyn Kelly, Bill O’Reilly and now the prime time ratings war. Shepard quitting instead of getting fired looks like him jumping from a burning building rather than a strong network holding to its conservative values.
Shepard has gone as far as to stick up for MSNBC and CNN while on the clock. He has earned the ire of the average Fox viewer before. The company was content to make money off of those hate views, but now, things are different. There are legitimate opportunities for employment at the network’s chief competitors. Things don’t look good in the court of public opinion.
If Fox knows what is good for it, the network will drive Shepard out before he leaves, even if the entire exercise is done completely for looks.
~ 1776 Christian
