In today's politically charged media landscape, no figure looms larger, even after his passing, than Roger Ailes, molding Fox News into a force that irrevocably impacted the highest levels of government. To understand the events that led to the rise of Donald Trump, one must understand Ailes. The Loudest Voice takes on that challenge, focusing primarily on the past decade in which Ailes arguably became the Republican Party's de facto leader, while also touching on defining events in Ailes' life, including an initial meeting with Richard Nixon on the set of The Mike Douglas Show that gave birth to Ailes' political career and also including the sexual harassment accusations and settlements that brought his Fox News reign to an end. Told through multiple points of view, the limited series aims to shed light on the psychology that drives the political process from the top down.
Roger Ailes, fresh from being fired from his perch atop CNBC, joins forces with media magnate Rupert Murdoch to form Fox News Channel, a conservative leaning cable news outlet. Working feverishly to get ahead of the competition, Roger must do the unthinkable — put an entire network on the air in the space of six months.
Fox News Channel is on the cusp of passing CNN to become the #1 rated news network. Then 9/11 changes everything. Emboldened and horrified by this terrorist attack on American soil, Roger begins pushing the news with an agenda, using his network to help drive the Bush Administration's push to war in Iraq and finally putting Fox on top of the ratings race.
With the election of "Barack Hussein Obama," Roger and Fox News Channel have found the ultimate enemy—one that will drive Fox's coverage as well as cement their ratings at #1. Fighting to take full editorial control of Fox News, Roger finds himself in conflict with both his boss, Rupert Murdoch, and the Obama Administration. What no one suspects are the hidden depths of Roger's secret world.
Still fighting the "socialist" in the White House, Roger finds his legacy in Joe Lindsley, a 25-year-old acolyte he hires to be the editor of a newspaper he bought in upstate New York. Turning this once-innocuous local paper into a conservative news source, Roger also achieves his revenge against the Obama White House by promulgating a news story which forces Congress into action against Obama's priorities. Roger is energized by the knowledge that Fox News Channel doesn't have to just report news, they make news.
Fox News Channel is now the dominant news outlet and Roger is working the levers of his power—over his network, over Fox and Friends host Gretchen Carlson who's getting too demanding, over Joe Lindsley, who's starting to question his work for Roger, and over Gabe Sherman, an intrepid journalist who's digging ever deeper into Roger's secret world. While Roger is buffeted by these threats, he doesn't see the danger posed by Gretchen Carlson. After years of harassment by Roger, she's finally had enough.
Gretchen Carlson secretly tapes Roger's harassment for over a year and works with a lawyer specializing in sexual harassment. Roger goes all in to achieve his goal of electing a president, and finds the perfect candidate in Donald Trump.
Fox fires Roger after Gretchen Carlson's lawsuit becomes public, but Roger's plans come to fruition as Donald Trump wins the presidency.
Complete episode guide for The Loudest Voice with detailed information about every season and episode including air dates, summaries, ratings, and streaming availability in United States.
This episode guide is organized by seasons, making it easy to track your viewing progress or find specific episodes. Use the episode information to plan your binge-watching sessions or catch up on missed episodes.