David Ellison Vows CNN Will Be Independent as Paramount Buys WBD

Will Paramount Skydance turn CNN into a right-leaning Fox News 2.0?

With David Ellison‘s media company poised to snap up CNN’s parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery, in a deal valued at $111 billion, staffers at the news cable outlet have expressed fears that the Trump-friendly ownership of Paramount Skydance will steer CNN’s coverage toward a more conservative ideological bent. That’s after Ellison installed Free Press founder Bari Weiss as head of CBS News, resulting in disruption within the ranks there. Weiss, who has criticized “woke” news coverage from many mainstream outlets, is expected to have a role in overseeing CNN once the Paramount-WBD deal closes.

Ellison, in an interview Thursday on CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” maintained that CNN will remain an editorially independent news organization.

In the interview, CNBC anchor David Faber said that there “is certainly a perception and/or a fear perhaps that once you take control of CNN, and given the changes you’ve made at CBS [News], that you will be more beholden to the Trump administration.” He then asked the Paramount Skydance CEO, “Can you address that — that potential fear, at least on the part of many?”

Ellison responded, “So, look, I’ve said this since the beginning, which is, you know, for — when it really comes to — editorial independence will absolutely be maintained. It’s maintained at CBS. It’ll be maintained at CNN. And, really, who we want to talk to is the 70% of Americans and really around the world that identify as center-left, as center-right. And we want to be in the truth business. We want to be in the trust business. And that’s not going to change.”

Ellison said that “CNN is an incredible brand with an incredible team. And we absolutely believe in, you know, the independence that needs to be maintained obviously for those incredible journalists, and we want to support that going forward.”

The focus for Paramount Skydance with respect to CNN will be to invest in expanding its availability via streaming, said Ellison.

“CNN and CBS News are brands that we also really want to be a part of transitioning to streaming so that consumers have the choice,” he said. “If they want to watch our incredible news brands on broadcast, they can do that. If they want to watch on cable, they can do that. But we also want to create a world to where if they want watch on streaming, they can do that, and where we can really meet consumers where they are. We’re going to invest in the news business. And we think this is going to — this transaction will be a positive for both CBS News and CNN.”

CNN already has a streaming subscription product: All Access, priced at $6.99/month, which it launched last fall. In 2022, it had rolled out CNN+ — but that streaming service was killed less than a month after it launched after Discovery closed its deal to buy WarnerMedia from AT&T.

Ellison’s comments may not reassure CNN staffers that big changes in editorial focus on ahead.

Weiss, a former New York Times opinion journalist who sold her Free Press to Paramount for a reported $150 million, has taken the reins of CBS News’ editorial operations — and, through several management gaffes, has caused discord and dysfunction in the news division, Variety has reported.

Some of that has landed on “60 Minutes,” one of TV journalism’s crown jewels and one of the best-known media properties in the Paramount portfolio. Weiss has articulated a plan to focus more heavily on digital audiences, even though CBS News’ TV properties continue to draw more advertising. CBS News staffers have complained publicly about worries tied to having stories need to meet a preconceived slant.

And, in what was interpreted as a strong sign of dissatisfaction with current leadership, Anderson Cooper said last month he would leave “60 Minutes” after serving as a correspondent for the program for two decades.

Brian Steinberg contributed to this article.