Roger Ailes Writing Autobiography In Campaign To Enhance His Legacy: NY Mag

Is Roger Ailes thinking about stepping down from his gig as chief of Fox News?That’s a possibility NY Magazine says in a report about his plans to write an autobiography as he enters “a legacy-burnishing phase of his career.” The magazine cites unnamed sources with “direct knowledge” of the situation who say Ailes, 71,could net an advance of as much as $4M from Rupert Murdoch’s HarperCollins.Ailes is being repped byWashington lawyer Bob Barnett, whose publishing client list includes Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Bob Woodward, George Will, and Lynne Cheney — as well as TV personalities Christiane Amanpour, Andrea Mitchell, and Neil Cavuto. Fox News contributor Jim Pinkerton, who worked with Ailes on George H.W. Bush’s 1988 presidential campaign,will be co-author. The magazine says that Pinkerson was Michele Bachmann’s ghost writer for her book, Core Of Conviction. The article says that the book might help Ailes’ effort to soften his image as a sharp-elbowed politico. It notes that he recently told AP that he’s weighing different options — he mused about owning the Cleveland Indians. It can also be seen, the article says, in “Ailes’s recent comments that Fox has taken a ‘course correction,’ putting distance between himself and the Republican circus his network did so much to promote.” Ailes’ contract at Fox expires in summer 2013. In response to the article, a Fox News spokesperson says that there is one source with direct knowledge of Rogers plans and thats Roger himself.” Since Ailes has never spoken to the writer of the article, Gabriel Sherman, “we continue to be fascinated with Gabes uncanny ability to read his mind.