Game Theory and Fox’s Corporate Culture
The article linked below details how the prisoner’s dilemma plays out in the case of Gretchen Carlson vs. Roger Ailes. Gretchen Carlson, a former Fox News anchor, filed a lawsuit against Roger Ailes, the illustrious chairman of the major news network earlier this year, citing sexual harassment violations. The evidence Carlson brought up against Ailes was damning in itself – Carlson had recorded her meetings with Ailes for a year and a half, and stated she had been in “between six to ten” meetings with Ailes during which inappropriate comments had been made. An announcement that the lawsuit had been settled was made by Fox on Tuesday, and an insider source revealed to the Times that two other women had also settled with Fox in regards to the complaints they voiced to investigators.
The Fortune article itself does not simply take into account Gretchen Carlson’s story, but rather Fox’s corporate culture as a whole. Given the claims that were part of the lawsuit, the article analyzes Fox’s culture of an unwritten “loyalty test” that translates into having “former co-workers shaming Carlson and refusing to cooperate with the internal investigation until after the lawsuit itself was filed.”
The power structure held within Fox only began to come apart after Carlson’s comments grew into a public filing and “well-orchestrated media alert.” Fox’s solidarity in staying silent about the happenings within the company crumbled, and inspired reports that eventually led to Ailes’ resignation and reports of a culture of “harassment and intimidation” at Fox as a whole.
So what does this article have to do with CS 2040? In analyzing the careful breakdown of Fox, the article also highlights how game theory allowed women in similar positions to Gretchen Carlson to decide if they should also come forth with their allegations.
In this case, the prisoner’s dilemma accurately describes the experience Gretchen Carlson faced in outing her boss for sexual harassment. As we worked through in lecture, the prisoner’s dilemma mandates that every actor make the “correct” decision without knowing the decision of any other actor. So, for example, in the case of Carlson vs. Fox, if everyone knows Ailes has habitually engaged in sexual harassment and no one speaks out, the result ends up being that the harassment culture at Fox continues and everyone loses. Alternatively, if only one woman confronts Ailes and Fox as an entity (in this case, Carlson), he/she risks being shrugged off and eventually being let go. This is the worst outcome for our hypothetical employee. If each person, however, chooses to come forth with allegations of their own, everyone (except Roger Ailes, in this case) has a chance at reforming a sexist company culture.
The Prisoner’s Dilemma in Airing Fox’s Corporate Culture