{"id":33213,"date":"2025-07-24T07:46:20","date_gmt":"2025-07-24T07:46:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/33213\/"},"modified":"2025-07-24T07:46:20","modified_gmt":"2025-07-24T07:46:20","slug":"skydance-tells-fcc-paramount-eliminated-dei-pledges-to-appoint-cbs-ombudsman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/33213\/","title":{"rendered":"Skydance Tells FCC Paramount Eliminated DEI, Pledges to Appoint CBS Ombudsman"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tSkydance Media<\/a> has made additional commitments to the FCC in an effort to get approval for its $8 billion merger with Paramount Global<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn letters addressed to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, Skydance\u2019s top lawyer said Skydance will install an ombudsman to review \u201ccomplaints of bias or other concerns\u201d involving CBS as part of ensuring \u201cviewpoint diversity\u201d and that Skydance has confirmed that Paramount has eliminated diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. The Skydance exec, Stephanie Kyoko McKinnon, general counsel and co-president of business operations, also said the company doesn\u2019t have DEI policies and is pledging to not implement any in the future. The letters, both dated July 22, were posted publicly on the FCC website on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn a meeting last week with Carr and other FCC officials, Skydance CEO David Ellison had expressed Skydance\u2019s \u201ccommitment to unbiased journalism and its embrace of diverse viewpoints, principles that will ensure CBS\u2019s editorial decision-making reflects the varied ideological perspectives of American viewers,\u201d per a company FCC filing<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn one of the July 22 letters, Skydance reiterated the pledge to maintain \u201cviewpoint diversity.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cTo promote transparency and increased accountability, Skydance also will commit, for a period of at least two years, to have in place an ombudsman who reports to the President of New Paramount, who will receive and evaluate any complaints of bias or other concerns involving CBS,\u201d Kyoko McKinnon wrote. \u201cNew Paramount\u2019s executive leadership will carefully consider any such complaints in overseeing CBS\u2019s news programming.\u201d The Skydance counsel noted in the letter that in evaluating Comcast\u2019s acquisition of NBCUniversal, \u201cthe Commission found such a mechanism effective in preventing editorial bias in the operation of the NBC broadcast network.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tJeff Shell, former head of NBCUniversal, is set to become president of the new Skydance Paramount Corp. David Ellison is to become the merged company\u2019s CEO and chairman.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cAs Skydance has made clear in the record, we \u2018recognize the importance of unbiased journalism and are fully committed to presenting a diverse array of viewpoints on television,’\u201d Kyoko McKinnon said in the letter. \u201cWe further reaffirm that, after consummation of the proposed transaction, New Paramount\u2019s new management will ensure that the company\u2019s array of news and entertainment programming embodies a diversity of viewpoints across the political and ideological spectrum, consistent with the varying perspectives of the viewing audience.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIn addition, according to the letter, Skydance \u201crecognizes that, as a broadcast licensee, it will be charged with operating in the public interest, and the company intends to undertake a comprehensive review of CBS and to make any necessary changes to ensure compliance with that standard. In all respects, Skydance will ensure that CBS\u2019s reporting is fair, unbiased, and fact-based. Moreover, Skydance reaffirms its commitment to localism as a core component of the public interest standard. Indeed, the CBS affiliate network\u2019s over 200 local broadcast stations provide service throughout the country and are a trusted voice in local markets big and small.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tMeanwhile, Carr has pressured media and telecom companies to scrap DEI programs, as part of Trump administration\u2019s efforts to get rid of what the FCC chairman has called \u201cinvidious forms of discrimination.\u201d Carr has said he would block M&A deals unless companies have committed to abandoning DEI; the FCC earlier this year approved separate deals involving Verizon and T-Mobile after they both provided such assurances.<\/p>\n

\n\tRegarding DEI, Kyoko McKinnon wrote in that letter, \u201cOn behalf of Skydance Media (Skydance), in connection with our pending applications seeking approval for the transfer of control of Paramount Global (Paramount), I write to confirm the elimination of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives that were in place at Paramount and to confirm our commitments moving forward,\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tKyoko McKinnon\u2019s DEI letter continued, \u201cSkydance, for its part, does not have DEI programs in place today and will not establish such initiatives. The company is committed to ensuring that its storytelling reflects the many audiences and communities it serves in a manner that complies with non-discrimination requirements and other applicable laws.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cAlthough Paramount must have a highly talented, dedicated, and creative workforce that understands the perspectives and experiences of its varied audiences, the Administration\u2019s recent Executive Orders, the Supreme Court\u2019s decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard (SFFA), and federal mandates impact the company\u2019s approach to those objectives. As a result of a review of Paramount\u2019s DEI programs, which began after the SFFA decision, the company announced significant changes in February 2025<\/a> to its recruiting and hiring practices to align them with current equal employment opportunity requirements,\u201d the letter stated. \u201cWe understand that Paramount also eliminated or modified DEI programs across the company to ensure that they are consistent with the company\u2019s commitment to equal opportunity and governing law.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tWith respect to hiring practices, Paramount \u201cwill not engage in any DEI-related disparate treatment in hiring decisions and no longer will set numerical goals related to the race, ethnicity, sex, or gender of job applicants or employee hires in the United States. Instead, the company will focus on attracting talent from all geographies, backgrounds, and perspectives,\u201d the Skydance counsel\u2019s letter said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Skydance Media has made additional commitments to the FCC in an effort to get approval for its $8…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":33214,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[28,7930,3093,27689],"class_list":{"0":"post-33213","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-cbs-news","10":"tag-paramount-global","11":"tag-skydance-media"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33213","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33213"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33213\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33214"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33213"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33213"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33213"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}