The Loudest Voice (TV Mini Series)

1995 (2019)

Jamie Jackson: Ian Rae

Quotes 

• Australian Executive : We ran focus groups in all the major markets: Los Angeles, New York, Dallas, Chicago. CNN represent old. They're stuck in the 1980s. MSNBC, lost in a synergistic dreamland.

  Roger Ailes : That's one way of putting it.

  [laughter] 

  Australian Executive : Fox News will be programmed for the '90s. Fast, loud, edgy. Tabloid TV.

  Ian Rae : It's based on a very similar concept to "A Current Affair", Rupert. And it draws on the strengths of the Post and the Sun.

  Rupert Murdoch : Sounds good to me, gents. Roger?

  Roger Ailes : Hmm. One question. Who is your audience?

  Australian Executive : Everyone. We want to reach the widest audience possible.

  Roger Ailes : Well, I think that's wrong.

  Australian Executive : Excuse me?

  Roger Ailes : We don't need everyone. Your problem is that you're talking broadcast. Cable is different. Cable is about one thing: niche. The loyalty of a passionate few. We need to program directly to the viewer who is predisposed to buying what we're trying to sell. In politics, it's called turning out the base. If we can do that, then they will never change the channel.

  Australian Executive : And what is that niche?

  Roger Ailes : Well, I think it is conservatives. It's roughly half the damn country. Every other news service... you think about it, broadcast, cable, doesn't matter who it is... they have a left-wing bent. Ultimately, they are playing to a liberal elite, and that's fine, fine. We will let them all battle out for that half, and we're just gonna own the other half. Right now in America, 60% of people think that the media is negative, that it's full of lies, full of bias, full of crap. We're just gonna give the people what they want, a positive message, an American message, wrapped up in a conservative viewpoint. That's hearts and minds right there.

• Sean Hannity : [in old TV footage]  Tax and spend, that-that... that's really all you got. Not surprising for a limp-wristed lefty like yourself, always looking to...

  Roger Ailes : [snickering]  "Limp-wristed lefty" is good.

  Ian Rae : He was painting houses there a year or two ago. There is no way this guy is ready for prime time.

  Roger Ailes : Mute the sound.

  Australian Executive : What?

  Roger Ailes : Mute... the sound.

  [as she does, he watches Sean's body language] 

  Roger Ailes : What do you think, Chet?

  Chet Collier : Yeah. Yeah, he's good.

  Roger Ailes : Okay, bring that guy in and find me more guys like that guy. Real guys.

• Roger Ailes : [interviewing candidates for news anchors]  Who ordered the pussy masala?

  Ian Rae : She's smart. She worked for the BBC.

  Roger Ailes : Mmm. She won't play in the Midwest, Ian. She just won't play.

  [holding up a manilla folder] 

  Roger Ailes : Are these the ones you didn't choose?

  Ian Rae : Those are a waste of time.

  Roger Ailes : Oh, well, they're ugly, I'll give you that much.

  [holding up a picture of a man with a large handlebar mustache] 

  Roger Ailes : If we're ever gonna fight the First World War again, we're gonna call that guy.

  [going through more headshots] 

  Roger Ailes : You got any video on him?

  Ian Rae : Yep.

  Roger Ailes : Hannity. Says he does talk radio in Atlanta.

  Ian Rae : Yeah. The guy is a bloody shock jock.

• Rupert Murdoch : Roger, this is in tomorrow's Wall Street Journal: "Disney to Launch ABC News Cable Network, A Fourth Competitor Enters Crowded Market."

  Ian Rae : They launch in December.

  Rupert Murdoch : Yeah, that's eight months from now. We launch in a year, we're dead in the water. You know, there's barely enough room in the market for two news networks, let alone four.

  Roger Ailes : So let's launch in six.

  Ian Rae : [laughing]  What, you want to launch an entire network in six months?

  Roger Ailes : I don't think we have a choice.

  Ian Rae : Launching in a year is... is a heavy lift. Six months is impossible.

  Roger Ailes : No, it's not impossible.

  Ian Rae : Uh, well, would you, uh, care to elaborate?

  Roger Ailes : Well, if we wait an entire year, then we're gonna lose something quite important that Mr. Murdoch is paying me for, and that's influence, so let's not pause to create a business model equivalent to the competition. Let's undercut them. Just get the eyeballs. Now, I don't know what it's like in England or Australia. Newspapers might be enough. Here in America, television news is king. I know television, I know how to produce television. All you gotta do is get me on the air. We can be ready in six months.

  Rupert Murdoch : And, uh, if we're not?

  Roger Ailes : Fire me. No, you know what? Fuck it. I'll quit, and you can donate my salary to the ACLU.

• Roger Ailes : I don't set my people up for failure. I set 'em up to succeed. You don't like the way I do things, missy, you can go and get yourself a job with the "Clinton News Network".

  Stephanie Rains : [leaving]  Better than working for the American version of "Pravda".

  Roger Ailes : Ho, ho, ho. Jesus Christ. What the fuck is that? What a fucking bitch.

  Ian Rae : She is our lead political reporter.

  Roger Ailes : No, she's fucking not. We only have team players here.

  Ian Rae : We are a news network, Roger. We need seasoned reporters.

  Roger Ailes : What we need is people that people wanna watch, because it's fucking television.

  Ian Rae : Yeah, and when they do, it's our job to inform them. It's what we do.

  Roger Ailes : People don't want to be informed, Ian. They want to *feel* informed.

  Ian Rae : That was a completely inappropriate way to talk to staff.

  Roger Ailes : [banging the table]  I don't give a fucking hairy nun's vagina what you think is appropriate. All right? I'm just trying to make this network the best and most watchable it can be. And that's what everybody in this room - everybody - should be focused on. Now, I'm gonna go and talk to Sean. I'm gonna build up his confidence, I'm gonna ask him to engage his fucking brain before he talks, and I'm gonna leave him with just the one asshole.

• Stephanie Rains : Ronald Reagan? That's a name, not an argument.

  Chet Collier : Well, what do you think, Roger?

  Roger Ailes : I'll talk to him. Get me a different liberal.

  Stephanie Rains : That's your fix? We can't control every guest who comes on this show.

  Roger Ailes : Yeah? Watch me.

  Stephanie Rains : What about fair and balanced news?

  Roger Ailes : I am balancing. I will get around to "fair" when Hannity gets better.

  Ian Rae : And what if he doesn't?

  Roger Ailes : Then Bill will write him a script.

  Bill Shine : I can do that.

  Stephanie Rains : What? No, you can't do that. This is a news network, not a sitcom.

• Roger Ailes : I need you to help me with a couple of things. One, stop fucking interrupting me, and two, you gotta stop acting like you have any authority in this room, because you do not!

  [yelling] 

  Roger Ailes : The only reason you are here is because you and Rupert used to bugger each other in grade school!

  Ian Rae : Fuck you, Roger!

  Roger Ailes : Fuck you, too! Fucking get out of here!

  Ian Rae : Fuck you!

  Roger Ailes : Fuck off! I got work to do!

  Ian Rae : I don't fucking need this.

  Roger Ailes : Anybody else want to paint your rear end white and run with the fucking antelope? Now's your chance!

  [calming down] 

  Roger Ailes : Look... I hired you because I saw something special in you, all right? That I believe in.

• Rupert Murdoch : Ah, Rog, we're gonna delay the launch. Disney's pulled out, pressure's off. We're gonna put our foot on the brake, do it right.

  Roger Ailes : No, no, no. You're making a mistake. We have momentum.

  Rupert Murdoch : Don't bullshit me, Roger. It's a bloody fucking mess down there.

  Roger Ailes : We have had a couple of bad rehearsals, Rupert. That's all.

  Rupert Murdoch : I am not gonna be made a laughingstock.

  Roger Ailes : If you delay this launch, I guarantee you will be.

  Rupert Murdoch : I'll take my chances.

  Ian Rae : It's for the best, Rog. It's all happening, uh, too fast.

  Roger Ailes : Okay. Look, obviously, I'm not doing something right here. So I'm gonna step aside, I'm gonna let you two reassess.

  Rupert Murdoch : Well, you can't just walk away. You got a job to do.

  Roger Ailes : Then let me do it. Stop calling me up here for every bump in the fucking road that won't count for shit when all is said and done! We're that close, Rupert. That close. We don't need to delay anything. And I know exactly what we need to do to be ready.

  Rupert Murdoch : And what is that?

  Roger Ailes : Get people in line.

• Late Executive : What kind of sick joke is this? Really, 4:00 a.m.?

  Roger Ailes : Sit down!

  [after a moment of silence] 

  Roger Ailes : Anyone else want to complain about the hours? You know, there's a Foot Locker right across the road. I believe they work in eight-hour shifts. They might be hiring. Now, what I have seen in rehearsals so far, it's just unacceptable. Chet. You keep bringing me these so-called producers who don't seem to know the difference between their own asshole and a hole in the ground. You gotta train 'em up right, okay?

  Chet Collier : Yes, Roger.

  Roger Ailes : Moody. You're giving me scripts that read like "War and fucking Peace". It's television. Shorten them up. Okay?

  John Moody : Yes, Roger.

  Roger Ailes : Bill. Bill Shine. Now, Bill...

  [clearing his throat] 

  Roger Ailes : This is my interpretation of recent events. You can correct me if you believe me to be wrong. But I just rescued your sorry ass from local news. And you're walking around like Mr. Magoo looking for his fucking dick in that control room. And I need you to be Bill fucking Shine and take control, okay?

  [Bill nods] 

  Roger Ailes : Okay?

  Bill Shine : Yes, Roger.

  Roger Ailes : [pointing to the Late Executive]  You're fired.

  Late Executive : Are you serious?

  Roger Ailes : I am. Please get the fuck outta here.

  Ian Rae : Roger. That's enough.

  Roger Ailes : What did you say?

  Ian Rae : That's enough.

  Roger Ailes : No. No, Ian, it's not enough, all right?