Have you ever wondered why Fox News hired former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin? Well, wonder no more, because Roger Ailes, the chairman of Fox News, revealed his reasoning in an interview with the Associated Press, saying in an interview published Wednesday that he hired Palin "because she was hot and got ratings."

Ailes used the example of the Palin hire to demonstrate how his news organization does not have a political bias. On the issue of bias in the news media, he said that from the very start, Fox News was meant to counter the bias he perceived in other news outlets.  "I really believed there was no fairness or balance," he said of the news media. 

When asked why Fox News consistently beats his rivals in the ratings, Ailes said he believes it's because his channel offers up a consistent product, adding that "I think we do better television than the other guys, and no matter how we do it, they don't seem to catch up. We seem to out-invent them and think ahead of them, and have better story ideas, better graphics, better on-air talent. We just are better television producers."

Ailes was reflecting back on Fox News two days ahead of the cable channel's 15th anniversary. Fox News first signed on to the airwaves on October 7, 1996.