a lot of people don't know he meets richard nixon on the mike douglas show and is a successful producer. he is the star of the book about the making of richard nixon which is the first idea about packaging the president with everybody else has noticed recently. one of the things that is interesting is that he has a very good press because he is often quoted in a very combated wade and he says some awful things about the composition of the journalists seem to like him. >> guest: that has been one of the things that propels him to where he is, the ability to charm that reporters. i think that his unwillingness to sit down with me is connected to that. >> host: tommy about that. >> guest: he has a power by controlling the images of republicans into the news media. about his channel. but if you think about it, the number one story that he has controlled has been his own and it goes back to his days on the mike douglas show. he was a television adviser to richard nixon and 68 and here comes the philadelphia inquirer was going to write a book about the campaign, and roger ailes, through his c

but if you think about it, the number one story goes back to mike douglas show. an adviser to richard nixon in 1968. here comes the "philadelphia inquirer" columnist and roger ailes through his charm, profanity, his charisma he taught himself into being the star joe mcginnis' book. when that book came out, roger ailes, who was wider known to the american public he came in overnight celebrity. even though he was trash talking nixon, they wanted him to do the same thing for nixon. and he became the svengali of this generation. that's a testament to the ability throughout his career has massaged and embellished his own life narrative to a mass power. >> host: what was so interesting for me as a reporter is to look at the hundreds of thousands of crows skimming through the years to the historical record. the a that mike dougarchive said that mike douglas show, richard nixon presidential library, else time as a broadway producer. i interviewed his colleagues. too much of the version of events at the historical record, you oftentimes that discrepancy. this wasn't a cas

i consulted the archives of "the mike douglas show", the presidential library and his time as broadway producer and to match up ailes version with the historical record. you often find a discrepancy but this wasn't a case of gotcha. i wasn't trying to say roger ailes tells tall tales. we are in roger ailes life did he portray himself in a way that would advance his career and it was amazing. in this great tradition of american hucksters and storytellers both real and fictional who impress themselves on the american consciousness by massaging their stories is what i'm trying to say. he's a great storyteller and that is a testament to his talent not a critique. >> host: i want to ask you about something that you uncover that i didn't know that much about which was tbn and the direction of tbn which you can explain it is a new service how that impacts what is on the air. as a journalist covering this and that media critic covering this it's always difficult to say where and how someone may or may not be doing something on the air that might be putting a thumb on the scale so talk to me ab