{"id":197950,"date":"2026-02-28T09:50:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-28T09:50:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/197950\/"},"modified":"2026-02-28T09:50:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-28T09:50:10","slug":"paramount-warner-bros-deal-stirs-fears-about-what-it-means-for-cnn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/197950\/","title":{"rendered":"Paramount-Warner Bros. deal stirs fears about what it means for CNN"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As the media industry took stock of Paramount Skydance\u2019s startling acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery<\/a>, one question lingered on the minds of many in the news business and beyond: What will this mean for CNN? <\/p>\n

The iconic 24-hour cable news network is among the various Warner Bros. assets that would be scooped up by Paramount in a deal announced Thursday that could transform the media landscape.<\/p>\n

Paramount has undergone a swift transformation under Chief Executive David Ellison following his family\u2019s acquisition of the company last summer. These changes reached CBS News almost immediately with the appointment of Bari Weiss, the controversial Free Press co-founder, as its new editor in chief.<\/p>\n

\"Bari <\/p>\n

Bari Weiss moderated a town hall with Erika Kirk, widow of slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk.<\/p>\n

(CBS via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Weiss\u2019 tenure so far has been rocky.<\/p>\n

Her decision to pull a \u201c60 Minutes\u201d story<\/a> about conditions inside an El Salvador prison that housed undocumented Venezuelan migrants from the U.S. received widespread criticism and accusations of political motivation. The network said the story was held for more reporting, and the segment eventually aired<\/a>.<\/p>\n

There was more upheaval last week at the news magazine, when \u201c60 Minutes\u201d correspondent and CNN news anchor Anderson Cooper announced that he\u2019d be leaving<\/a> to spend more time with his family.<\/p>\n

And earlier this year, a veteran producer at \u201cCBS Evening News With Tony Dokoupil\u201d was fired<\/a> after he expressed disagreement about the editorial direction of the newscast.<\/p>\n

Now, the concern is that similar changes could be in store for CNN, which has long been a target of President Trump\u2019s ire. He has personally called for the ouster of hosts at the network who have questioned his policies.<\/p>\n

CNN Worldwide Chief Executive Mark Thompson tried to quell some of those fears, particularly inside his own newsroom.<\/p>\n

In an internal memo dated Thursday and obtained by The Times, Thompson urged employees not to \u201cjump to conclusions about the future\u201d and try to concentrate on their work.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re still near the start of what is already an incredibly newsy year at home and abroad,\u201d he wrote in the note. \u201cLet\u2019s continue to focus on delivering the best possible journalism to the millions of people who rely on us all around the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Chairman <\/p>\n

Chairman and CEO of CNN Worldwide Mark Thompson and media editor for Semafor, Maxwell Tani, speak onstage.<\/p>\n

(Shannon Finney \/ Getty Images for Semafor)<\/p>\n

CNN declined to comment beyond Thompson\u2019s memo.<\/p>\n

Ellison has said his vision for a news business is one that is ideologically down the middle.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to build a scaled news service that is basically, fundamentally in the trust business, that is in the truth business, and that speaks to the 70% of Americans that are in the middle,\u201d he said during a Dec. 8 interview on CNBC, shortly after Warner said it had chosen Netflix as the winning bidder for its studios, HBO and HBO Max. \u201cAnd we believe that by doing so that is for us, kind of doing well, while doing good.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ellison demurred when asked whether Trump would embrace him as CNN\u2019s owner, given the president\u2019s past criticisms of the network.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve had great conversations with the president about this, but … I don\u2019t want to speak for him in any way, shape or form,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

First Amendment scholars have raised concerns about press freedom and free speech rights under the Trump administration, particularly after last month\u2019s arrest of former CNN journalist Don Lemon<\/a> and the Federal Communications Commission\u2019s pressure on late-night hosts<\/a> like Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert.<\/p>\n

Press freedom groups have long asked questions in other countries about how authoritarian regimes use their power and \u201coligarchical alliances to belittle, silence, and punish independent journalistic voices, or to steer media ownership toward … a preferred version of the truth,\u201d said RonNell Andersen Jones, a 1st Amendment scholar and distinguished professor in the college of law at the University of Utah, in an email.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe see them asking at least some of these questions about the U.S. today,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n

Apprehension about the merger also extends beyond its implications for CNN and the media business.<\/p>\n

Lawmakers such as Rep. Laura Friedman (D-Glendale), Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) have raised concerns about how the consolidation of two major Hollywood studios could affect industry jobs and film and television production \u2014 which has significantly slowed since the pandemic, the dual writers\u2019 and actors\u2019 strikes in 2023 and corporate cutbacks in spending.<\/p>\n

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) called the deal an \u201cantitrust disaster\u201d that she feared could raise prices and limit choices for consumers.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith the cloud of corruption looming over Trump\u2019s Department of Justice, it\u2019ll be up to the American people to speak up and state attorneys general to enforce the law,\u201d she said in a statement.<\/p>\n

Already, California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta has said the merger isn\u2019t a \u201cdone deal,\u201d adding that he is in communication with other states attorneys general about the issue.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs the epicenter of the entertainment industry, California has a special interest in protecting competition,\u201d he posted Friday on X<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The deal is subject to approval by the U.S. Justice Department. Bonta and other state attorneys general are expected to file a legal challenge to the mega-merger on antitrust grounds.<\/p>\n

Ellison addressed some of these concerns in a statement Friday.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy bringing together these world-class studios, our complementary streaming platforms, and the extraordinary talent behind them, we will create even greater value for audiences, partners and shareholders,\u201d he said. \u201cWe couldn\u2019t be more excited for what\u2019s ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n

Times staff writer Meg James contributed to this report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As the media industry took stock of Paramount Skydance\u2019s startling acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, one question lingered…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":197951,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[5177,3413,6709,92069,32890,92071,6227,42637,48,52,51,47,50,49,5848,61135,3020,92070,1423,79059,1519],"class_list":{"0":"post-197950","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-cnn","9":"tag-concern","10":"tag-deal","11":"tag-ellison","12":"tag-fear","13":"tag-first-amendment-scholar","14":"tag-host","15":"tag-internal-memo","16":"tag-la","17":"tag-la-headlines","18":"tag-la-news","19":"tag-los-angeles","20":"tag-los-angeles-headlines","21":"tag-los-angeles-news","22":"tag-network","23":"tag-paramount-skydance","24":"tag-president-trump","25":"tag-press-freedom","26":"tag-question","27":"tag-thompson","28":"tag-trump"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197950","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=197950"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197950\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/197951"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=197950"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=197950"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=197950"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}