The Fox News Channel is supposed to report the news. Today, it is the news.

First, 21st Century Fox, the network’s parent company, announced that it has settled the lawsuit that Gretchen Carlson filed against former Fox News CEO Roger Ailes.

21st Century Fox also issued a public apology to Carlson:

“21st Century Fox is pleased to announce that we have settled Gretchen Carlson’s lawsuit. During her tenure at Fox News, Gretchen exhibited the highest standards of journalism and professionalism. She developed a loyal audience and was a daily source of information for many Americans. We are proud that she was part of the Fox News team. We sincerely regret and apologize for the fact that Gretchen was not treated with the respect and dignity thatshe and all of our colleagues deserve. We know Gretchen will be successful in whatever endeavors she chooses in the future.”

Vanity Fair reports, “The company, according to two people familiar with the discussions, has also reached settlement agreements with two other women.”

Adding to the Fox News misery is the sudden departure of Greta Van Susteren from the network.

The public is being told that Van Susteren’s departure has nothing to do with the network’s settlement with Carlson.

However, the timing of Van Susteren’s departure doesn’t make her look good. In July of this year, Van Susteren made comments to People magazine that were negative about Carlson’s accusation against Ailes:

“Of course, the first thing that occurred to me is that, unfortunately, we have a disgruntled employee, a colleague. I read that her show wasn’t being renewed and, being a lawyer, I thought she got angry. I deal with Roger Ailes often. I’ve often been alone with Roger Ailes in his office over the course of 15 years and I’ve never seen anything like what I’m reading about in the papers and the magazine. People come to me because I’ve been there so long. That’s why this doesn’t have any ring of truth to me. I would have heard it. People don’t keep things silent. . . If Roger Ailes were how he’s described, there’s no way I would’ve stuck around.”

Indeed, Ailes is as Carlson described, and Van Susteren stuck around.

One might wonder if Van Susteren will apologize for being wrong about Carlson. Since Van Susteren has left Fox News, the world may never know.

David Robertson

The “Wanted” posters say the following about David: “Wanted: A refugee from planet Melmac masquerading as a human. Loves cats. If seen, contact the Alien Task Force.”

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