Fox News is down another seasoned reporter after longtime L.A.-based correspondent Adam Housley announced he was leaving the network.
Housley confirmed the news on Twitter on Friday and lamented that the “sad world we live in” made his departure so “political.”
Shocking. My leaving Fox News quickly gets political on Twitter. Yep..the sad world we live in. I’m sure gonna enjoy that glass of wine while the polarized in this country duke it out. Maybe one day…one day we can find common ground first rather than just call names
— Adam Housley (@adamhousley) August 24, 2018
A rep for Fox News declined to comment and instead directed TheWrap to a statement from Housley shared to Politico:
After nearly two decades at Fox News, I have decided to leave the network and take some time in northern California to raise our two young children closer to my family, which includes running the family winery and even coaching their sports teams. I could not be more proud of the journalism I did at the network, from war zones, to tsunamis, to watching miners pulled from the ground in Chile, I am grateful for the extraordinary opportunities to have a front seat to history and cover news all over the world. A huge thank you to the many Fox employees, especially behind the scenes, who have supported me every step of the way. We are friends for life.”
That account, however, was contradicted by the same Politico report, which said that Housley had been unhappy with the growth of Fox News opinion programming.
“He’s not doing the type of journalism he wants to be doing,” a person familiar with the situation told Politico. “And he is unhappy with the tone of the conversation of the channel.”
This would be the second time in a month that Fox News’ news division has been rocked by an unhappy departure. As TheWrap previously reported, Conor Powell left the network’s Jerusalem bureau for similar reasons earlier this month.
Powell was “uncomfortable with the direction of the news organization in recent months. “Fewer news shows. More opinion shows. Less resources for reporters to report,” a person familiar with the matter told TheWrap at the time and also noted that “lots of reporters are very unhappy with directions of FNC right now.”
Powell declined to comment when reached and only addressed his resignation in a Facebook post.
“Those of you who have spoken to me in recent months will understand why I am leaving FNC,” he said.
https://www.facebook.com/conor.powell.5/posts/10160655399500052