• by Erik Sass , Staff Writer @eriksass1, December 14, 2016

Following his defenestration as boss of Fox News, due to sexual harassment accusations, Roger Ailes is surrendering a rather smaller media property as well – a local newspaper he acquired back in 2008 and has since treated as a microcosm of Fox News. He has used it to espouse conservative political views, albeit at a more parochial level.

Ailes and his wife, Elizabeth, sold the Putnam County News and Recorder in Cold Spring, NY, along with another community newspaper, the Putnam County Courier, to the editor of the former, Doug Cunningham.

Neither party disclosed the value of the transaction, but Ailes had reportedly offered to sell the News and Recorder to its employees for $100,000 before Cunningham bought it.

The former Fox News chief is also selling the building where the newspapers are housed, but not to the new publisher; the newspaper can stay in their current location for the time being, but may have to find new digs.

Ailes was forced to resign as chairman of Fox News in July, following a spate of high-profile accusations of sexual harassment by current and former Fox News employees, including news anchor Gretchen Carlson. She sued her former boss for sexual harassment and wrongful termination.

Fox eventually paid $20 million to settle Carlson’s lawsuit, but dozens of other women subsequently came forward with their own stories of sexual harassment by Ailes.

After his resignation, Ailes was temporarily replaced by 21^st Century Fox executive chairman Rupert Murdoch, who launched Fox News together with Ailes in 1996.

Fresh allegations of sexual harassment surfaced this week, with new claims by Lidia Curanaj, detailing inappropriate remarks by Ailes as part of a larger lawsuit accusing New York Fox TV station WNYW of discrimination, based on gender, age, race, and pregnancy status.