Hope Hicks joins Fox as chief communications officer

Former White House communications director will also be an executive vice-president for the company that runs Fox News

Hope Hicks in the White House

The former White House communications director Hope Hicks is heading to Fox, the company announced on Monday.

Hicks was a key Donald Trump aide throughout his campaign and at the White House until she resigned earlier this year. She’ll now join the company that runs Fox News, a conservative TV station that has been uniquely friendly to Trump among other cable networks.

Others have moved between the administration and the network. The former Fox News co-president Bill Shine was appointed White House communications director in July, taking over Hicks’s old role.

Hicks will be an executive vice-president and chief communications officer for Fox, the new company that will run Fox News, Fox Sports and Fox’s broadcast networks.

The restructuring comes after most of 21st Century Fox, including its Hollywood movie studio, was sold to Disney in a $66bn deal.

Media mogul Rupert Murdoch will retain ownership of Fox, the new spin-off company that includes the cable news network.

The hiring of Hicks is sure to further fuel criticism that Fox News has become largely a mouthpiece for Trump.

Trump often tweets running commentary on the network’s shows. He is known as such an avid viewer of Fox that anchors and political guests have even sometimes sought to address Trump directly from its programs in attempts to influence his thinking.

Fox also announced Danny O’Brien would head its government relations. “Hope and Danny are proven leaders and world-class public affairs professionals. Together they will define and project Fox’s voice to our relevant communities,” said Viet Dinh, the company’s chief legal and policy officer.