{"id":473774,"date":"2026-06-03T08:09:14","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T08:09:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/473774\/"},"modified":"2026-06-03T08:09:14","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T08:09:14","slug":"cbs-firings-called-straight-from-an-authoritarian-handbook-and-preview-of-paramount-warner-bros-merger","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/473774\/","title":{"rendered":"CBS Firings Called ‘Straight From an Authoritarian Handbook’ and Preview of Paramount-Warner Bros. Merger"},"content":{"rendered":"

A coalition of nine press freedom<\/a> groups on Tuesday warned<\/a> that last week’s firings<\/a> of top journalists at CBS News’ “60 Minutes” were a “grotesque effort taken straight from an authoritarian handbook”\u2014but emphasized that the dismissal of reporters who had pushed back against the Trump administration<\/a> signaled danger for journalists across the media, particularly as a pending merger would hand control of CNN to the same billionaire family that how runs CBS. <\/p>\n

The Coalition for Women in Journalism<\/a>, Common Cause, Freedom of the Press Foundation, and Reporters Without Borders were among the groups that released a statement saying the firing of “60 Minutes” correspondents Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega\u2014as well as two top executives\u2014were meant to “appease a sitting president and dismantle one of the loudest voices in investigative journalism.”<\/p>\n

But the groups emphasized that “this is only the beginning,” considering the fact that Warner Bros. Discovery recently voted<\/a> in support of a $110 billion proposed merger with Paramount Skydance, owned by David Ellison, the son of President Donald Trump<\/a> megadonor Larry Ellison. The deal could be finalized<\/a> as soon as July. <\/p>\n

Warner Bros. Discovery owns CNN, and media critics have warned the network could be headed for the same loss of editorial independence that CBS has faced since right-wing<\/a> former opinion columnist took the helm of the latter network last year following the Paramount Skydance merger. <\/p>\n

Since then, newly appointed editor-in-chief Bari Weiss has pulled<\/a> from the air a “60 Minutes” segment that questioned the Trump administration’s explanation for the deportation of hundreds of immigrants to an El Salvador<\/a> prison, personally<\/a> booked guests for news programs, and called<\/a> for programming that appeals to “centrist” viewers. <\/p>\n

“Bari Weiss\u2019 shameless actions fulfill the Ellisons\u2019 commitment to President Trump to remake CBS to his liking,” said the groups on Tuesday. “Larry Ellison has reportedly promised to do the same at CNN if allowed to take control through the pending Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger. Not because it makes any business sense, but because they seek to control the public discourse.”<\/p>\n

“We have to make the story heard. It\u2019s what ’60 Minutes’ would have done; it\u2019s what the Fourth Estate is tasked with doing; it\u2019s what Trump and the Ellisons want to prevent. Don\u2019t let them.\u201d<\/p>\n

The groups noted that the firings of Alfonsi, Vega, executive producer Tanya Simon, and executive editor Draggan Mihailovich came as more than 200 journalists and documentarians signed<\/a> an open letter opposing the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger, citing concerns that the deal “would open the door to improper political meddling in journalists\u2019 editorial decisions,” and noting that according to The Wall Street<\/a> Journal, David Ellison has “promised President Donald Trump<\/a> ‘sweeping changes’ at Warner-owned CNN\u2014a frequent target of Trump\u2019s ire.”<\/p>\n

“Ellison will likely alter CNN\u2019s editorial direction (not to mention meddle with HBO\u2019s documentaries) to be more friendly to the administration, threatening press freedom,” said the signatories, including Wajahat Ali, Mehdi Hasan, and Alfonsi. <\/p>\n

A separate letter organized by Democracy<\/a> Defenders Fund has garnered<\/a> signatures from over 1,000 actors, producers, directors, screenwriters, and other entertainment professionals. <\/p>\n

“This transaction would further consolidate an already concentrated media landscape, reducing competition at a moment when our industries\u2014and the audiences we serve\u2014can least afford it,” reads the letter, which calls for state attorneys general to block the merger. “The result will be fewer opportunities for creators, fewer jobs across the production ecosystem, higher costs, and less choice for audiences in the United States<\/a> and around the world. Alarmingly, this merger would reduce the number of major US film studios to just four.”<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, the press freedom groups warned that the merger “represents an existential threat to the free press, independent media, and free speech<\/a> in this country and beyond, and should not be allowed to move forward.”<\/p>\n

“We cannot let this blow to the bedrock of our democracy be lost in the constant barrage of scandal, corruption<\/a>, and abuse of power,” said the organizations. “We have to make the story heard. It\u2019s what ’60 Minutes’ would have done; it\u2019s what the Fourth Estate is tasked with doing; it\u2019s what Trump and the Ellisons want to prevent. Don\u2019t let them.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A coalition of nine press freedom groups on Tuesday warned that last week’s firings of top journalists at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":473775,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[73297,1462,90506,4521,146,85,46,4178,4523,411,9483],"class_list":["post-473774","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-60-minutes","tag-antitrust","tag-bari-weiss","tag-cbs-news","tag-entertainment","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-media","tag-paramount","tag-tv","tag-warner-bros-discovery"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/473774","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=473774"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/473774\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/473775"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=473774"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=473774"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=473774"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}