¨ Fox News, along with all the other television networks, made errors on election night which cannot be repeated, the biggest of which occurred in Florida.

¨ Through our self-examination and investigation we have determined that there was no intentional political favoritism in play on election night on the part of Fox News.

¨ Shortly after election night, Fox News became the first network to announce that going forward it would not call a winner in a given state until all polls in that state were closed.

¨ In hindsight we made a significant error in relying on VNS data alone, although that was the only data available.

¨ Fox News is considering more internal safeguards for the next election including placing more of its own personnel in key precincts in key states to gather information and report on results.

¨ The purpose and intent, processes of VNS must be carefully reexamined in a formal manner. The models must be rebuilt. The systems must be modernized.

¨ Fox News is willing to spend more money as a Member of VNS to go through this reexamination process to ensure that we get it right the next time.

¨ There was no information which John Ellis, head of Fox News' Decision Desk, could have given to anyone nor was there any unilateral decision which Mr. Ellis could have made which would have affected the outcome of the election.

¨ Fox News favors uniform poll opening and closing times across the entire country.

Statement of Roger Ailes

Before the Committee on Energy & Commerce

Oversight Hearing: Election Night 2000

February 14, 2001

Let me begin by stating that Fox News, along with all the other television networks, made errors on election night which cannot be repeated, the biggest of which occurred in Florida.

Fox News acknowledges here that it failed the American public on Election Night and takes full responsibility for this failure.

These errors have led to much self-examination of the processes we used on election night, how the Voter News Service operated on election night, and our membership in the Voter News Service.

Through our self-examination and investigation we have determined that there was no intentional political favoritism in play on election night on the part of Fox News.

In hindsight we made a significant error in relying on VNS data alone, although that was the only data available. Obviously, it would have been better to have at least one other source of data, but up until now economic considerations have made this unfeasible. We look at VNS in much the same way the networks combine resources for pool cameras, the Associated Press, etc.

As you may know, the Fox News Channel launched on October 7, 1996. From the moment we launched we intended to compete with the big established television news networks. In order to cover elections in a competitive manner, we believed we would have to join VNS. But it was not an easy decision for us. First and foremost, membership in VNS was (and is) very expensive, especially for what was, at the time, a fledgling television network. But, after many internal discussions of both editorial and financial natures, we decided to join. I understood VNS had a good, solid record of calling races until the 2000 elections. For example, 99% of the calls which VNS made over the last two election cycles have been accurate; 100% of VNS' calls in 1998 were accurate.

Now, however, we feel the purpose, intent, processes and models of VNS must be carefully examined in a formal manner and we are willing to spend more money as a VNS Member to make this examination happen.

Let me assure you that Fox News operates in the interest of the public and attempts at all times to conduct itself with that fact in mind.

Since election night, the issue of voter suppression has been written about and discussed.

Would it have made any difference in voter turnout if the television networks waited until all polls in the state of Florida, and in every other state for that matter, had closed before declaring a winner. When Fox News called Florida for Al Gore at 7:52 pm, there were eight minutes remaining for citizens in the Florida panhandle to vote.

Well, I don't know the answer to that question, but to remove all doubt it is a simple enough remedy for a television network to wait until all polls in a given state have closed before declaring a winner in that state.

Shortly after election night, Fox News became the first network to announce that going forward it would not call a winner in a given state until all polls in that state were closed.

I would now like to discuss briefly Fox News' relationship with VNS and our Decision Desk Team.

John Ellis headed our Decision Desk team. He was joined by John Gorman, Arnon Mishkin and Cynthia Talkov. All four members of the Decision Desk had to agree on a call before it was recommended to John Moody, our Vice President of News Editorial. Mr. Moody then made the final decision regarding whether or not to make a call on the air on election night. The Decision Desk team would unanimously recommend a call and Mr. Moody would either accept it, in which case it got to air, or he would question it in which case the Decision Desk team would walk him through the numbers until he was comfortable making the call on the air. Mr. Moody was also responsible for the retractions we made on the air.

I would like to say a few words about John Ellis because I am sure you are all familiar with him and his family connections. Mr. Ellis is the first cousin of President George W. Bush and Governor Jeb Bush. We at Fox News do not discriminate against people because of their family connections. I am more than happy to give you examples of offspring of famous politicians who are employed at Fox News.

As for Mr. Ellis, he has almost 23 years of experience in calling elections. I won't go through his entire resume with you, but I will highlight the fact that he worked in NBC's election unit for over 10 years, including when George Herbert Walker Bush ran for President in 1988. I have personally known Mr. Ellis for almost 20 years. He is a consummate professional. Much ado has been made about a column Mr. Ellis wrote for The Boston Globe in July 1999 where he stated in effect that his loyalty to then Governor George W Bush would prevent him from writing further columns about politics.

I am aware that Mr. Ellis was speaking to then Governor George W Bush and Jeb Bush on election night. Obviously, through his family connections, Mr. Ellis has very good sources. I do not see this as a fault or shortcoming of Mr. Ellis. Quite the contrary, I see this as a good journalist talking to his very high level sources on election night. Our investigation of election night 2000 found not one shred of evidence that Mr. Ellis revealed information to either or both of the Bush brothers which he should not have, or that he acted improperly or broke any rules or policies of either Fox News or VNS. By the way, Mr. Gorman and Mr. Mishkin were speaking to high level Democratic sources throughout the evening.

To be clear, there was no information which John Ellis could have given to anyone nor was there any unilateral decision which Mr. Ellis could have made which would have affected the outcome of the election.

I understand that you may ask me specific questions about the decision screens which were used that night and about other data. I depended entirely on our Decision Desk. I trusted them (and still trust them) to do a professional job and I believe they did the best job that night they possibly could have.

I elected not to study these decision screens and other data solely in preparation for this hearing since I have never looked at them before in my life. So any questions you ask me about data will be a blind alley.

Conclusion:

We must all question what purpose early calls serve, apart from bragging rights. We must especially question the purpose of early calls since we all rely on one source for our information.

You know I have toyed with the idea of not covering the next election until the day after when all the votes have been tallied and the winners are certain beyond all doubt. I have even thrown this idea out to some members of my senior staff. They looked at me skeptically, as if they weren't sure whether or not I was kidding. I am, after all, the head of a news organization and this idea seems completely contrary to all I should be about.

But in my heart I do believe that democracy was harmed by my network and others on November 7, 2000. I do believe that the great profession of journalism took many steps backward.

Here is what Fox News recommends going forward.

¨ No announcing of winners in any state until all polls in that state have closed.

¨ Fox News favors uniform poll opening and closing times across the entire country, perhaps opening at 11 am Eastern time and closing at 11 pm Eastern time (i.e. opening at 8 am Pacific time and closing at 8 pm Pacific time). Perhaps voting takes place on a Saturday or perhaps a new federal holiday is declared for voting.

¨ Fox News intends to produce several news packages around the time of the next elections to explain various elements of the election process, including how the Electoral College was established, what its purpose is, explaining how "projections" are made, explaining any built-in biases in the systems that are used to interpret data and call elections.

¨ Going forward, Fox News will inform its viewers of the margin of error in each call it makes, however small.

¨ Fox News is considering more internal safeguards for the next election including placing more of its own personnel in key precincts in key states to gather information and report on results.

¨ Fox News recognizes that having all networks relying on one source of data, VNS, is problematic.

¨ Accordingly, the purpose and processes of VNS must be carefully reexamined in a formal manner. The models must be rebuilt. The systems must be modernized. Fox News is willing to spend more money as a Member of VNS to go through this reexamination process to ensure that we get it right the next time.

Thank you for the opportunity to address you.

ROGER AILES

Chairman and CEO, FOX NEWS NETWORK

Roger Ailes serves as the Chairman and CEO of FOX News. In this position, Ailes oversees all national operations for FOX News and also serves as a senior advisor to Rupert Murdoch, Chairman and CEO of the News Corporation Limited. Since joining FOX News

in February 1996, Ailes created FOX's first weekly public affairs show, FOX News Sunday,

which has the youngest median age amongst the Sunday talk shows and is now available in

more than 96% of the country. Ailes also oversaw the successful launch of FOX News

Channel (FNC), FOX's 24-hour cable news channel, currently the fastest growing news

network in the country and now reaching 54 million homes.

Prior to FOX, Ailes was President of CNBC, NBC's business news and talk network, beginning in September 1993. Under his leadership, CNBC established itself as the leading source for business news and became the fastest growing major cable network in America. During his tenure at the network, ratings more than tripled and profits increased from $9 million to well over $100 million. Ailes also oversaw CNBC's 1995 worldwide expansion to Europe and Asia.

In addition, Ailes was President of America's Talking (A-T), an information talk channel, which later became MSNBC. Between A-T and CNBC, he was responsible for more live programming than any other television executive in America - 31 1/2 hours daily. He also created the CNBC "Talk-All-Stars" concept attracting such notable stars as Tim Russert, Geraldo Rivera, Chris Matthews, Dee Dee Myers and Gerry Spence, which dramatically increased CNBC's prime time ratings.

Ailes' television roots are deep and well established. In 1965, at age 25, Ailes rose from prop boy to executive producer of "The Mike Douglas Show." Under his supervision, the show was nominated for two Emmy awards and won its first Emmy in 1967, becoming the most-watched syndicated talk show in America.

Over the years, Ailes also produced several television specials including, the Emmy Award-winning and nationally syndicated "Television and the Presidency," featuring historian Theodore H. White; "Television: Our Life and Times," a nationally syndicated two-hour retrospective of television entertainment programs; a nationally syndicated documentary on the legendary Italian film director Federico Fellini, and an hour-long wildlife special, "The Last Frontier," with Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. In 1981, Ailes served as Executive Producer of the NBC program "Tomorrow: Coast to Coast." Additionally, in 1991, after the Gulf War, Ailes was Co-Executive Producer of "An All-Star Salute to Our Troops," a two-hour entertainment special, which aired on the CBS Television Network.

For more than two decades, Ailes has worked as a top consultant and/or executive producer for several major television projects including Twentieth Century Fox's, "A Current Affair," and Paramount Television's "The Maury Povich Show," "The Leeza Show," and "Rush Limbaugh: The Television Show." From 1970-1992, he owned Ailes Communications, Inc., a diversified communications consulting company whose clients included three U.S. Presidents, several senators and governors, as well as Fortune 500 CEO's. In 1992, Ailes retired completely from political and corporate consulting to return full-time to television. In 1987, Ailes authored a critically acclaimed communications book, "You Are The Message" (Doubleday), which was chosen as one of the "year's best" by the Wall Street Journal.

Ailes is a board member of the National Hemophilia Foundation, a member of the Director's Guild of America and a Trustee of the National Trust for Historic Gettysburg. He is a native of Warren, Ohio and a graduate of Ohio University, which awarded him an Honorary Doctorate in Communications. In 1999, Ailes was awarded the Silver Circle Award by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

###