Breaking: Paramount prevails
Tonight we’re doing our best “EXTRA, EXTRA” impression, publishing our version of a PM newspaper to capture all the news that’s developed since noon Eastern Time today.
Paramount has finally, indisputably prevailed in its year-long quest to take over Warner Bros. Discovery.
This afternoon’s settlement announcement from California Attorney General Rob Bonta clears the way for Paramount to complete one of the largest mergers in US history.
That means CNN and the rest of Warner will be controlled by the Ellisons, the billionaire family assembling a global media empire.
In a memo I obtained from a future colleague at CBS, Paramount CEO David Ellison told staffers that “there’s still work to get this deal across the finish line, but we’re excited to bring these two iconic companies together, as it means more opportunity for our creatives, production crews and employees across the business, and more great entertainment for audiences everywhere.”
Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav also wrote to his staff this afternoon acknowledging the dissolution of the twin lawsuits that were holding up the merger.
“While the timing is not yet fixed, we expect the merger will close no later than early October,” Zaslav wrote.
The merger will likely take effect right around the time the “ticking fee” was going to start making WBD even more expensive for Paramount to acquire.
And the timing today is nothing short of extraordinary. We started the morning by reporting that CNN is suing the president over an unprecedented White House ban. Now we’re reporting that CNN is on the verge of having a new owner, Paramount, which is expected to combine CNN with CBS News down the road.
All the when, where and how about a CBS News–CNN tie-up have yet to be determined. But I want to share with all of you a couple of points that I made on television about this:
>> Yes, there are real and understandable concerns about the Ellison family’s close ties with the president. CBS is a complicated business right now. The Bari Weiss-led overhaul of CBS News is a continuing source of consternation. But CBS News has been on a reporting hot streak lately, with tough coverage of the Trump administration appearing day after day.
>> CBS News has been showing solidarity with CNN amid the White House ban. In fact, sources close to the matter told me over the weekend that CBS leaders were inclined to issue a strong statement right away on Saturday, but held off because the five major networks wanted to collaborate on the joint statement that ultimately came out this morning.
Scroll down for the latest on the ban and the fallout in DC and NYC. But first, let’s drill a little deeper into this merger news…
The state AG settlement is already quite controversial. It appears to be much more modest in scope than Bonta predicted it would be.
Editor Andrew Kirell sums it up this way: The terms require Paramount–WBD to release 30 films theatrically per year, rising to 32 after two years; maintain its theatrical release windows; keep Paramount’s Hollywood and Warner’s Burbank studio lots open; invest an additional $1.5 billion in domestic film production; and establish an “editorial independence board” for CNN and CBS News.
“The deal does not include the three words — robust structural remedies — that California’s attorney general had said was the goal since filing suit in July,” Variety’s Gene Maddaus wrote here.
Instead of requiring some asset sales upfront — which would be “structural” — the settlement consists largely of “behavioral” remedies.
“Opponents of the deal were quick to blast Bonta for ‘caving’ to Paramount’s pressure campaign,” Maddaus added.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren wrote on social media that “allowing one Trump-aligned, foreign-owned conglomerate to dominate American news and entertainment is a disastrous outcome.”
Reporters Without Borders called it “an objectively bad deal for press freedom.”
And one of the other state AGs in the coalition, William Tong of Connecticut, said he was disappointed by the outcome because his office wanted stronger concessions.
Tong said he “wanted and demanded full divestiture of CNN and CBS News,” but did not get it. “I am deeply disappointed that we could not do more,” he wrote in a statement.
Tong noted, however, that “we have secured an editorial board structure that will meaningfully help protect editorial independence for both news organizations, and it will be enforceable under the consent decree.”
Bonta said Paramount must establish “a news editorial independence board to support CBS News’ and CNN’s continued editorial independence” and “ensure independent, objective, fact-based reporting.”
Paramount will choose five board members, all of whom must be “established journalists,” active or retired, each with at least 10 years of experience.
According to paperwork filed with the court today, this panel will resolve disputes over “alleged reporting bias or failure to meet agreed reporting fairness standards” and monitor “editorial independence, including from… ownership and shareholders.”
Curiously, the paperwork says “no more than two” of the journalists may be “affiliated” with the same political party. That language is meant to ensure viewpoint diversity, I’m told, so that the board can’t be stacked with partisans. But the type of journalists who really belong on such a panel aren’t politically “affiliated” in the first place.
Will this board actually ensure CNN and CBS News independence? How will its effectiveness be measured? I told Christiane Amanpour on CNNi this afternoon that I’m skeptical, and many other media analyst types are downright suspicious.
But as one person involved in the negotiations said to me, “This board will exist. So let’s try to make sure it has teeth.”
This afternoon CNN CEO Mark Thompson sent a memo to staff that said, “Over the coming days you’ll hear much more about what this means for CNN.”
He also referenced “our legal action to get the unconstitutional banning of CNN from the White House overturned,” and wrote, “I want to end by thanking you all for the calm and courageous way you collectively stand up for CNN’s tradition of strong independent journalism. It’s what we believe in and what our audience in the millions around the world have come to expect and rely on.”
The Trump White House has until tomorrow to respond to the lawsuit from CNN, MS NOW and Politico. And then there will be a hearing on Wednesday afternoon.
The judge assigned to the case is Tim Kelly, a Trump appointee. He’s the same judge who sided with Jim Acosta when his press pass was revoked in 2018.
Perhaps acknowledging how flimsy his entire ban is, Trump is already talking about appealing the initial ruling. In a lengthy Truth Social post, he attacked Judge Kelly and said, “as usual, we’ll go for appeal because Fake News people and publications that only write negatively… shouldn’t be allowed access to the most important Office anywhere in the World.”
But the most important development in the past few hours has been within the White House press corps:
As we wrote in this morning’s Reliable Sources, the “TV pool” is standing with the banned outlets. And now others are joining the show of solidarity.
Virtually all of the still photographers who cover Trump on a regular basis, including those traveling with the president in New York today, have worked with their photo desks and determined that they will not publish images of Trump’s events until the very end of the day today.
Sources described it to me as a “universal” response by photographers. The Washington Post called it a “collective effort with photographers in other newsrooms” to withhold photographs of Trump’s appearances “until midnight Eastern time.”
The New York Times described the action as a “show of support for the news organizations being unfairly targeted.” The AP also confirmed its participation, saying: “No news organization — or person — should be retaliated against by the government over the words they use.”
The practical effect: A noticeable lack of photos of Trump. The press corps photographed Trump taking off on Marine One for his trip to NYC, but the pictures haven’t been distributed on the wires.
Meanwhile, photos on the Getty Images wire showed a sign posted near the White House briefing room today, reading: “I stand with AP, CNN, MS NOW, Politico.”
The effects of removing CNN from TV pool duty were apparent across the proverbial dial today. Even C-SPAN did not show Trump’s 1:45 p.m. ribbon-cutting ceremony for his new helipad. I’m told some news crews that could have attended and filmed the open-press event chose not to.
The event was livestreamed to the White House website. However, Trump’s remarks were indiscernible throughout the video; the helicopter’s loud noise completely drowned out his voice.
The pro-Trump network Newsmax tried to carry the White House feed, but amid the awkward silence, host Bianca de la Garza interjected, “There’s no microphone because the pool cameras aren’t there, so maybe… this is one example of it backfiring just a little bit.”
More than a little bit, actually.
And it made for a remarkable moment when Trump showed up at NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s press conference after the two men had a meeting at Gracie Mansion.
CNN showed the presser live, despite the ban, by using a feed from NY1. CNN New York correspondent Gloria Pazmino and MS NOW White House reporter Laura Barrón-López were both there with credentials from the mayor’s office.
The mayor’s office clearly wanted to make sure they both got to ask questions. Pazmino asked about affordability; Barrón-López asked whether he’s banning media outlets “to distract from the Iran war and high gas prices.”
“They said they’ll boycott me, but they’ll never boycott me. Look at all that press,” Trump said in response, rambling a bit about the Iran war before saying of banned outlets, “If they’re fake news, I really think I have an obligation not to allow them” on White House grounds.
The president has many obligations. Deciding what’s “fake news” is not one of them.
Much more on this tomorrow morning, of course. We’ll be back at our usual time…
This edition of Reliable Sources was edited by Andrew Kirell and produced with Liam Reilly. Email us your feedback and tips here.