Paramount Floats Options To Wall Off CNN To Salvage Acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery

With the $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery on hold due to a California lawsuit, Paramount executives are floating the idea of selling CNN or creating an independent governing body for the network in the hope of resolving the litigation. The prospect of Paramount acquiring CNN has created a sense of anxiety among its staffers, who fret that their new bosses — assuming the deal goes through — will seek to cut costs by slashing salaries and staff. The liberal media outlet, Status, has repeatedly cited anonymous CNN reporters who have expressed fears that Paramount executives would try to shift the network’s editorial voice to the right and make it friendlier to the Trump administration.While the merger is on hold pending the outcome of a lawsuit brought by California and 11 other states that centers on concerns that the deal would limit competition, Paramount executives are floating ways to wall off CNN — including by creating an independent oversight panel or potentially selling the network. The CEO of Paramount, David Ellison, has been seen as aligned with President Trump. But in a column published in the New York Times last week, he addressed what he said was a misconception about his politics, saying that he has voted for Democrats and Republicans and holds some conservative views and some liberal views. He also wrote that he believed California’s lawsuit was not actually about competition, but about concerns regarding his plans for CNN. Last year, Mr. Ellison hired Bari Weiss to be the editor in chief of CBS News, and tasked her with cleaning up what he saw as a left-wing, anti-Israel bias at the Tiffany Network. Earlier this year, Ms. Weiss fired three “60 Minutes” correspondents — Sharyn Alfonsi, Cecilia Vega, and Scott Pelley, and several staffers at the newsmagazine program as she plotted an overhaul of the show. The fired correspondents have alleged that network executives tried to inject political bias and falsehoods into their stories. CBS News denied that claim, saying in a statement that the only “interference” is the “normal back and forth between editor and correspondent that happens in every newsroom.” Mr. Ellison has pledged that CNN would retain its independence, though that has done little to comfort his critics.Mr. Ellison wrote in his column in the Times last week that he does not believe the California lawsuit is “really about market share.”“I believe a plainer worry sits beneath the briefs and the news releases: the news. The issue is whether I can be trusted as a steward of Warner’s CNN,” he wrote. As concerns about CNN’s future hang over the deal, the Wall Street Journal reported that Paramount executives have explored the idea of creating an “oversight committee” to manage CNN’s operations. A Paramount spokesman told the Journal, “We always remain open to internal improvements to journalistic integrity.”While the idea of implementing an independent committee to oversee CNN is meant to calm nerves, some network staffers shared doubts with Status. One “veteran” staffer told the newsletter, “A board only works if it’s built by journalists with deep credibility who have actual shielding power.” The staffer also took a jab at Paramount executives, saying they are “probably thinking of a board with Bari Weiss and Dana White on it.”“That ain’t going to cut it,” the staffer said. Another staffer told the newsletter that no one at CNN “trusts that Paramount would butt out and put an editorial board in charge.”If the idea of creating an independent board to oversee CNN does not calm fears, Paramount executives are also considering selling the network. On Tuesday, Paramount’s chief legal officer, Makan Delrahim, said at Politico’s California Agenda conference that the idea of selling the network is “on the table” if it would help resolve California’s lawsuit. A sale may complicate matters as Mr. Trump has previously said that CNN should be part of the WBD deal and has repeatedly expressed optimism that Mr. Ellison would make major changes at the network.

Paramount Floats Options To Wall Off CNN To Salvage Acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery

Paramount Floats Options To Wall Off CNN To Salvage Acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery

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