Roger Ailes, chairman and CEO of Fox News Channel and chairman of the Fox Stations Group, graduated another class — the eighth — in his TV news apprenticeship program.
Ailes started the program, in 2003 to increase diversity in broadcast and cable news by putting young, recent college grads through rigorous mentorships with seasoned professionals and a full-time job at FNC.
“I don’t care about my legacy,” he told TV Newser, the trade web site, last week. “What I care about however, what I want to do is expand” the apprenticeship idea,
“If every company did this, could you imagine what that’d do to minority unemployment and success?
“The problem with these kids is they don’t have access,” he said. “ Give them somebody inside they can deal with.”
Among this year’s graduates are a University of Maryland student paper editor; an economics major from Tufts; an NYU journalism student; and a woman who graduated from Monroe College in 2002 and is making a career change to TV news.
The Rev. Jesse Jackson gave the class’ commencement speech.