CNN CEO Mark Thompson told staff Wednesday he wants to remain at the network after Paramount completes its takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery — but said he has not been told how the new owner plans to run CNN or whether he will have a job. “I am enthusiastic about staying,” Thompson said at a quarterly town hall that ran from about 11 a.m. to 12:25 p.m., according to people briefed on the remarks. He also said he remained “fully committed to CNN” and wanted to stay “if Paramount finds me useful.”
He added that “how Paramount wants to run news” is unknown to him. CNN declined to make executives available for comment, according to Variety.
 |
| Mark Thompson |
Paramount CEO David Ellison has told employees the deal could close in about two weeks. A related consent-decree hearing is set for Thursday.
Asked by correspondent John King when a transition might start or when Paramount executives might appear in CNN’s offices, Thompson said he did not know. He warned staff not to “jump to conclusions that we become one with CBS News,” saying there were “arguments for and against” combining the two newsrooms and that much still had to be worked out.
CFO Adam Cohn also gave a routine business update. Thompson used the same session to address President Trump’s ban of CNN from the White House. “This is a fight,” he said. “It’s not a fight against the President. It’s not a fight against the White House. It’s a fight FOR our fundamental rights as both journalists and citizens.” He said CNN was “not in this fight alone,” pointing to other networks, including Fox News, that refused to replace CNN in the White House TV pool.