Report of the Fox News Workplace Professionalism and Inclusion Council
dated January 19, 2022
Introduction and Background
Since its last report on July 22, 2021, the Fox News Workplace Professionalism andInclusion Council (the “WPIC”) met on September 27, 2021 with Fox Corporation’s
NCG Chair and met on November 10, 2021 with Fox Corporation’s full NCG
Committee. The WPIC also held a regular council meeting on December 14, 2021.
WPIC members Kevin Lord, Executive Vice President of Human Resources, Fox
Corporation; Bernard Gugar, General Counsel & Executive Vice President ofCorporate Development, Fox News Media; Sylvia Hewlett, Author & Chair Emeritus,
Center for Talent Innovation; Virgil Smith, Principal, Smith Edwards Group LLC;
and Brande Stellings, Principal, Vestry Laight LLC, attended all meetings. WPIC
member the Honorable Barbara Jones, Partner, Bracewell LLP, attended theSeptember 27 and December 14 meetings.
Meeting with Fox Corporation’s Corporate Governance Committee Chair on
September 27, 2021
On September 27, 2021, the WPIC met with Fox Corporation’s NCG Chair, theHonorable Paul D. Ryan. This meeting focused on the pulse survey Fox News Media(“FNM”) conducted in March and April of 2021; career development initiatives
launched in 2021; diversity actions, including the May 2021 launch of the Eskalera
program; and the Spotlight Awards, an employee recognition program.
Ms. Hewlett, noting that there was enormous energy this past year, described how thepulse survey targeted the low scoring departments and leaders from the 2020 Great
Places to Work (“GPTW”) survey. The WPIC worked with GPTW to develop 10
survey questions to monitor hot-spots noted during the 2020 survey. The pulsesurvey showed improvement from the already positive 2020 GPTW results in eachcategory that was measured. Ms. Hewlett noted that the trend lines are going in theright direction, and that the climate of inclusion at FNM has improved in the 7months since the GPTW survey. In fact, 79% of pulse survey respondents agreed thatpeople are treated fairly at FNM regardless of their race. The WPIC did note,however, that there were still areas that should continue to be addressed. Specifically,
the issues around Black employees continued to be a concern. In that regard, theWPIC recommended that FNM should keep the successful town halls, create greatertransparency around career paths and pay scales, and ramp up mentoring programs.
Ms. Hewlett then described “High Octane Mentoring,” which is a sponsorshipprogram with a goal of engaging, retaining, and preparing individuals identified ashigh potential talent for continued growth within FNM. CEO Suzanne Scott and herdirect reports have selected 16 high performing and diverse employees who would beassigned sponsors. In response to Speaker Ryan’s question about scalability, theWPIC described how the program is about driving value and that there will be acascade of how that can be passed down on their teams, and added that if the initialtests of the program are successful, then it can be scaled down the pyramid forbroader application.
Ms. Stellings then discussed other areas of career development that will complement
the high octane mentoring. For example, in June 2021, FNM Digital launched a
Rotational Program that strives to identify high potential talent from diverse
backgrounds with passion for the FNM brand. This is a year-long program in which
participants rotate through 3 key departments for 4 months each. This program isintended to grow future leaders through: (i) a wide range of professional experiences
within FNM Digital; (ii) training and development initiatives focused on furthering
hard and soft skillsets; (iii) cross-company exposure that enhances understanding of,and contributions to, Digital’s strategy; and (iv) impactful and lasting mentorship
opportunities.
Ms. Stellings also discussed the FNM Career Launch Program that was implemented
in August 2021 and strives to set up early-career talent for success by providing tools
and resources that empower them to navigate their own career journey, becoming
well-rounded employees who contribute to the long-term success of FNM. Thisprogram is led by a diverse 9-person Advisory Team representing all areas of thebusiness and whose focus is to develop and lead these events, and also to be mentors
to early career employees. The program goal is to provide the early career population
with more experiences focused on increasing engagement, inclusion, exposure, andgrowth opportunities. Each month, the program hosts events that focus on 1 of 3
key areas: (i) Skills for Success; (ii) Business Knowledge; and (iii) Networking.
The WPIC then briefed Speaker Ryan on the several Diversity Actions FNM has
implemented in 2021. First, Ms. Stellings discussed the Eskalera Learning Circles,
which began in September 2021. These learning circles provide an opportunity foremployees to connect with others in the organization to discuss what they learned
from the Eskalera program that has been in place since May 2021. The learning circles
are conducted over Zoom and, with help from Eskalera, contain question promptsand live polling. Early reviews of Eskalera from these learning circles are extremely
positive and 72% of managers have participated in Eskalera.
Mr. Smith gave a brief history of The Maynard Institute for Journalism Education, anonprofit organization that trains people of color to become journalists, editors andnewspaper managers. The Institute was established in 1977 by Bob Maynard, areporter for the Washington Post who later became the first African-American toown a mainstream metropolitan newspaper. In September 20201, FNM confirmed2that it will sponsor 2 seats for the Maynard 200 Fellowship Program in 2022.
Maynard 200, with a goal of training 200 media professionals over the next 5 years, isthe signature Diversity Fellowship Program from the Maynard Institute, and provides
cutting-edge training and frameworks to leaders of diverse backgrounds. More
importantly, the program is seeding and emboldening the next generation ofprofessionals of color to be the driving force of diversity, equity, inclusion, andbelonging across America’s newsrooms, companies and ventures.
Mr. Smith also briefed Speaker Ryan on the Fox Weather Diversity Outreach Strategy,
which is designed to engage diverse populations within the weather community. The
strategy is based on 4 pillars: (i) outreach to strategic universities, including Mississippi
State University, which has one of the largest meteorological departments in thecountry; (ii) visibility within premiere industry organizations such as the American
Meteorological Society; (iii) championing diversity in the weather community throughstrong partnerships with diversity journalism organizations (NABJ, AAJA, NAHJ,NLGJA) and Historically Black Colleges & Universities (HBCUs) with weatherprograms; (iv) cultivation of internal development opportunities, including leveraging
and scaling best practices across the organization through training and development
opportunities and developing internal pipelines for talent mobility.
Mr. Gugar discussed the FNM Spotlight Awards, which recognize individuals in thefollowing categories: (i) the Impact Award, which will go to employees, teams, ordepartments whose work had one of the most positive impacts on the company; (ii)the Inclusion Ambassador of the Year, for employees who lead by example in celebrating,engaging, and advocating on behalf of diverse communities and voices both insideand outside the company; (iii) the Innovator of the Year, for employees, teams, ordepartments whose consistent hard work, dedication, and outside of the box creative
thinking led to innovative changes throughout the business and took FNM to newheights; (iv) the Community Service Award, for employees who have dedicated their timeand energy to their local communities and are most active in company volunteer
efforts; (v) the Unsung Hero Award, for employees whose work is vital to the businessbut often goes unnoticed; and (vi) the Rising Star Award, for entry-level employees
who showed exemplary work ethic and growth throughout the year. One aspect thatmakes these awards special is that it is employees who nominate their colleagues forthese awards, and the nominations are then reviewed by the leadership team.

3

Meeting with Fox Corporation’s Full Corporate Governance Committee on
November 10, 2021
On November 10, 2021, the WPIC participated in a joint meeting of the Nominating
and Corporate Governance and the Audit Committees. Co-Chairs Speaker Ryan andRoland Hernandez, Anne Dias, William Burck, and Jacques Nasser were present. Mr.
Lord walked the Committees through the cultural evolution that has occurred atFNM in recent years. For example, in 2017 alone, FNM increased the size of its
Human Resources team (87% women/37% minority), established the Diversity andInclusion Council, initiated Small Group Open Forums to address areas ofopportunity throughout Fox News, instituted all employee Quarterly Town Halls,
launched Women@ FOX News and a Monthly Women’s Breakfast Series, conducted
an employee survey, launched Performance Management Training, engaged withMinority Journalism Conferences and Recruitment Events, and established recruiting
relationships with HBCU’s and Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI’s). Suzanne Scott
was named CEO of FNM in May 2018, a year in which FNM moved the news teamfrom the outdated basement space into state-of-the-art NYC Newsroom, hired a
dedicated employment attorney for FNM, and launched MentorMatch and aLeadership Development Training program. As of September 2019, 2 of the 3Presidents at FNM are women and 50% of Ms. Scott’s leadership team are women.
FNM launched the GPTW survey in the Fall of 2020 and was certified as a GreatPlace to Work.
The WPIC explained that while the GPTW survey results were overall positive, theresults did show gaps in the scores for Black and multi-racial employees, which led
FNM and the WPIC to partner with GPTW and implement the pulse surveys
discussed above. The WPIC informed the Committee of the positive pulse survey
results and discussed the career development and Diversity & Inclusion initiatives
discussed with Speaker Ryan on September 27, and also discussed the 9 Employee
Resource Groups (ERGs) at FOX.
Mr. Gugar then described the process for the employee Spotlight Awards, whichbecame an integral part of FNM’s 25th Year Anniversary celebrations. Thiscelebration included FNM’s Week of Service from November 8-12, which enabled
employees to participate in various volunteer opportunities that can be done both
virtually and in the office.
Regular WPIC Meeting on December 14, 2021
On December 14, 2021, the WPIC held the last regular council meeting of the year, inwhich the Eskalera focus groups and Spotlight Awards were discussed. The WPIC, at4its request, was also provided a report containing quantitative data surrounding
employee complaints of gender-based discrimination and harassment at FNM.
Marsheila Hayes, Vice President, Diversity and Inclusion, FNM, discussed the focus
groups she and Eskalera have been developing. The plan is to conduct 11 different
focus groups, with each session expected to last for an hour. Eskalera will work withthe WPIC to develop the questions for each focus group, which will include polling,
open questions, and conversations. The intention is to begin the focus groups after
employees have returned to the office and had an opportunity to get acclimated tobeing in person.
Ms. Hayes also discussed the Spotlight Awards with the WPIC, sharing that there were
330 nominations submitted by fellow employees and that the voting was very difficult
since there were so many deserving candidates. These results showed great employee
enthusiasm and was viewed as a significant morale booster. The WPIC was looking
forward to seeing the announcement of the winners.
The WPIC was then presented with a comparison and analysis of anonymized genderbased (including sexual orientation-based) employee complaint data for the calendar
years 2018 and 2020. The scope of the data encompassed claims of sexual
harassment, sex discrimination, and retaliation. The comparison showed that the total
number of complaints in 2020 was somewhat lower than the complaints in 2018. The
analysis also showed FNM’s increased use of independent outside investigators forcertain claims. The WPIC requested more qualitative and timely briefings related tocomplaints going forward.
Looking Forward
As it has done to date, the WPIC will continue to collaborate with FNM management
to set the agenda and topics to be addressed at future meetings. A key topic for thenew year will be setting dates for the Eskalera focus groups, which would then befollowed by a second company-wide GPTW survey tentatively scheduled for Fall
2022. FNM is committed to both initiatives, the timing of which will be partiallydependent on the progress of the pandemic and the eventual full return of employees
to the office.

5