'Shaken' CNN staffers say they fear what a Paramount takeover would mean for the newsroom
CNN employees reacted with alarm after Netflix abruptly pulled out of the bidding war for Warner Bros. Discovery, effectively clearing the way for a takeover of the 24/7 cable channel by Paramount Skydance, the media giant run by technology heir David Ellison.
Seven current CNN employees who spoke to NBC News on Thursday night, hours after Netflix announced it would not try to match Paramount’s bid for WBD, expressed a combination of fear and concern. They described the mood inside the company as “shaken” and” depressing.”
Paramount’s offer, formally signed into an agreement by WBD’s board on Friday afternoon, still needs to go through Justice Department regulators. Democratic politicians and California’s attorney general have said they will also be looking closely at the deal.
But if it is approved, Ellison — the son of Oracle technology mogul Larry Ellison, a close ally of President Donald Trump — stands to control two of the key pillars of the traditional news media: CNN and CBS News, home of “60 Minutes.”
One CNN journalist who regularly appears on air described Netflix’s pullback as “shocking.” The journalist said they believed some staffers would head for the exits if faced with the prospect of working for David Ellison or CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss, whom Ellison hired to “invigorate” the storied network news division.
“No one wants to work for the Ellisons,” that person said. “And if Bari is going to be running CNN, expect people to leave.”
A CNN spokesperson declined to comment but pointed NBC News to a memo that CNN CEO Mark Thompson sent to the newsroom Thursday.
“Despite all the speculation you’ve read during this process, I’d suggest that you don’t jump to conclusions about the future until we know more,” Thompson wrote. “And secondly, let’s not forget our duty to our audience. We’re still near the start of what is already an incredibly newsy year at home and abroad, one that will culminate with critical U.S. midterm elections and who knows what else. Let’s continue to focus on delivering the best possible journalism to the millions of people who rely on us all around the world.”
Paramount and CBS did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
CBS News has become the target of particular scrutiny under Weiss’s leadership. She drew criticism for the last-minute spiking of a “60 Minutes” segment around the treatment of Venezuelan deportees, which eventually aired weeks later. Public outcry followed some staffing decisions, including the decision to bring on new contributors.
One CNN anchor said that much of the company was hoping Netflix would win the bidding war, while a CNN executive said they were worried about whether Paramount would look to make deep cuts to the newsroom.
The employees asked to withhold their names so they could speak candidly about the company’s inner workings. In December, CNN staffers received a memo instructing them not to speak publicly about anything related to their parent company’s situation.
Paramount’s bid for WBD is for the entire company, including the legendary film studio, HBO, the HBO Max streaming platform, and a suite of cable channels that includes CNN. Netflix was looking to acquire only WBD’s studio and streaming units, pending a spinoff of the cable portfolio into a separate entity.
It was not immediately clear whether David Ellison would combine CNN and CBS News into a single news organization or operate them as separate units. But the root cause of concern among staffers centers on the Ellison family’s collective control. Some experts have echoed those worries.
“It cannot be overstated, the potential impact this is going to have when it comes to the undermining of what’s considered credible news coverage,” J. Christopher Hamilton, an entertainment attorney and professor at Syracuse University, told NBC News on Friday.
“My students have already checked out in terms of their trust in legacy anything — whether it’s institutions like governments or media organizations,” he continued. “I don’t know what a world looks like when the institutions that have protected and guided us for centuries become institutions we don’t trust anymore.”
Those concerns have only been amplified within the Trump era, where free speech has been a front-and-center debate among political watchdog organizations and the general news media.
“The president has been extremely closely involved in individual enforcement decisions,” Reilly Steel, associate professor at Columbia Law School, told NBC News. “We see that with President Trump trying to get the DOJ to go after particular individuals.”
Jim Acosta, a former CNN White House correspondent, emphasized those sentiments in a post to X, writing on Thursday, “As I’ve been warning, America now has state-compromised media.”
“When 60 Min or CNN is in trouble, we’re all in trouble,” Acosta continued. “Trump has cracked the code on how to hurt the press. Free speech is now at risk. MAGA corporations must not control the news. Support independent media.”
Ron Filipkowski, editor-in-chief of the progressive media organization MeidasTouch, added in a separate post, “This will be the end of CNN.”
In recent years, CNN’s ratings have sagged as overall viewership of broadcast and cable television declines. The traditional news media face growing competition from digital platforms such as TikTok, as well as potential economic disruptions related to AI.
In a town hall with employees early Friday, David Zaslav, CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, addressed the latest developments, albeit briefly. A CNN journalist who listened in said Zaslav struck an optimistic tone but did not take questions. The employee added that the meeting was “full of platitudes and broad gestures.”
Despite the frustrations within the newsroom, Hamilton advised those workers and journalists who have been part of these storied organizations not back down.
“If [journalists] step away from these institutions because of how uncomfortable or how unwieldy this gets, then we have no hope,” Hamilton said. “Stay the course. Be the one reasonable person in the room — even if you’re just the only one.”