Report: Paramount Has Talked About Editorial Board To Oversee CNN

Paramount has discussed creating an editorial board for CNN and other safeguards to protect the network’s journalistic independence as it prepares to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery for $81 billion, according to people familiar with the matter.

The Wall Street Journal reports the internal talks about an oversight committee for news have arisen while Paramount, owner of CBS News, plans for the deal’s closing. Paramount’s stock recently rose 1.33% and Warner Bros. Discovery’s rose 1.75%.

The acquisition is currently on hold because of an antitrust lawsuit filed by California and 11 other states. A trial is scheduled for March. The states allege the combination would give one company excessive power over theatrical movie distribution and cable television. Paramount says the deal is pro-consumer and would help it compete with larger rivals such as Disney, Netflix and Amazon. It has already cleared the U.S. Justice Department and regulators in the European Union, the U.K. and elsewhere.

Discussions about an editorial board for CNN began before the lawsuit was filed, one of the people said. In a statement, Paramount said: “We always remain open to internal improvements to journalistic integrity.” The company also argued that “using state powers to try to control speech would threaten the protections guaranteed by the First Amendment.”

California Attorney General Rob Bonta said Tuesday that CNN is not part of the legal case and that no settlement talks are underway with Paramount.

Concerns about potential owner influence on news coverage intensified after Paramount last year paid $16 million to settle a lawsuit by President Trump over the editing of a “60 Minutes” interview with Kamala Harris, as its merger with David Ellison’s Skydance Media awaited approval. Some CBS correspondents have alleged political interference since Ellison, now Paramount’s CEO and the son of Trump ally Larry Ellison, appointed Free Press founder Bari Weiss as CBS News editor in chief last fall. CBS has denied any political interference.

In a New York Times opinion piece last week, Ellison wrote that he believes the antitrust lawsuit is intended to prevent him from owning CNN rather than address genuine competition issues. “The issue is whether I can be trusted as a steward of Warner’s CNN,” he said. CNN’s reporting has often been critical of Trump, who frequently criticizes the network.

The idea of an independent oversight body for a news organization is not new. When Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp acquired Dow Jones, publisher of The Wall Street Journal, in 2007, it established a special committee to safeguard the objectivity and independence of its publications.