David Ellison has asked CNN CEO Mark Thompson to remain at the network after Paramount completes its acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, though the two sides have not agreed on a new contract, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.
Ellison and Thompson have discussed terms, people familiar with the talks told the Journal. Thompson is seeking assurances that he would keep broad editorial autonomy. Bari Weiss, editor-in-chief of CBS News, is not expected to have a role involving CNN once the deal closes. CNN and Paramount did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The report comes just over a week after Thompson told staff he wanted to stay, while saying the decision would rest with Paramount. “I want to stay if Paramount finds me useful,” he said at a company town hall. He added that Paramount had not yet explained how it planned to run CNN and warned employees not to assume CNN and CBS News would be combined.
Paramount expects the transaction to close Oct. 6, after a federal judge approved its settlement Wednesday with 12 state attorneys general. Under that agreement, Paramount must create a five-member News Editorial Independence Board within 180 days of closing to oversee editorial independence at CNN and CBS News and to resolve specified disputes over journalistic standards.
Paramount chief legal officer Makan Delrahim told TheWrap at TheGrill on Wednesday that he was confident CNN would keep its editorial independence under the Ellison family. He also said he did not believe CNN or CBS News would “foreclose access to information” once the networks share an owner.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta, who led the coalition challenging the acquisition, told TheWrap at TheGrill that concerns about CNN’s future helped drive the settlement’s editorial protections. “I care about our information ecosystem. It’s broken,” Bonta said. “Of course I’m concerned about it.”