David Ellison Promises ‘Editorial Independence’ at CNN in Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery Merger
Paramount CEO David Ellison told CNBC on Thursday that CNN would maintain “editorial independence” if the company’s bid to buy Warner Bros. Discovery closes, an attempt to assuage fears the news network would radically change to appease the Trump administration.
“Squawk on the Street” host David Faber asked Ellison about fears that a Paramount-owned CNN, a longtime enemy of President Donald Trump, would end up “more beholden to the Trump administration.” TheWrap previously reported that some CNN staffers feared “it could be the end” for the network once Ellison assumes control.
Faber referenced Ellison’s current control of CBS News, where he has tasked Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss with remodeling the network’s programming to appeal to a politically broader audience.
Ellison tried to downplay those concerns, telling Faber that CNN’s independence “will actually be maintained.”
“It’s maintained at CBS and it will be maintained at CNN,” he said. “Really, who we really want to talk to is the 70% of Americans that really — around the world — that identify as center-left and center-right. We want to be in the truth business and we want to be in the trust business, and that’s not going to change.”
More to come…
The post David Ellison Promises ‘Editorial Independence’ at CNN in Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery Merger appeared first on TheWrap.