By Matthew Keys
Alan Komissaroff, the senior vice president of news and political programming at Fox News Media, died on Friday after being hospitalized following a heart attack earlier this month. He was 47 years old.
Komissaroff’s death was announced in a memo written by Fox News Media CEO Suzanne Scott and President/Executive Editor Jay Wallace.
“This is an extremely difficult day for all of us who worked closely with Alan, and we are completely heartbroken,” Scott and Wallace wrote in the memo, a copy of which was obtained and published late Friday afternoon at TheDesk.net.
The memo continued:
Alan was a leader and mentor throughout Fox News Media who was integral to our daily news operations and played an indispensable role in every election cycle. The recent midterm election coverage was easily one of the finest nights of special coverage he produced throughout his career. And he was the ultimate producer: breaking news, politics, special events — there was no steadier or more trusted colleague to be with in the control room during the most consequential events of our time, and his incisiveness and passion for news made our work better.
He was also a proud “Fox News original” having started here fresh out of college when FNC launched in 1996. He would joke that he was a guy from “real Brooklyn” and rose through the ranks to become a writer, producer, showrunner and eventually Senior Vice President of News & Politics, overseeing all political coverage. His sharp sense of humor and quick wit throughout his incredible career also led to the many lifelong friendships he made here.
Alan is survived by his loving wife Rachael, who was his high school sweetheart, and his beautiful children Ben (17) and Olivia (13). Our deepest condolences are with them and Alan’s entire extended family as we collectively mourn the loss of a wonderful man.
A GoFundMe page launched to support Komissaroff’s family offers some insight into what happened. After exercising at his home, Komissaroff told his wife, Rachael, that he wasn’t feeling well. She called for an ambulance, and Komissaroff heart stopped beating while he was en route to the hospital.
Komissaroff was hospitalized after falling into a coma. He did not regain consciousness, and died on Friday.
It was not the first time Komissaroff suffered from a cardiac episode: In a 2013 segment aired on the Fox News Channel, he revealed that he once nearly died from a similar incident after suffering from cardiac arrest six times.
As of Friday afternoon, the GoFundMe had more than $46,000; among those donating were several current and former Fox News on-air personalities, including Sean Hannity, who chipped in $10,000. Neil Cavuto, Bret Baier and Shepard Smith contributed $5,000 each.
Fox News Media has made grief counseling services available to employees. A memorial service will be held for Komissaroff at a chapel in New Jersey on Sunday.
Matthew Keys is a contributing journalist to Streamline Publishing’s Radio Ink and is the publisher and principal journalist at TheDesk.net. He is based in Sacramento.
