For CNN, a Takeover by Paramount Means a Suddenly Uncertain Future
Paramount’s apparent victory over Netflix in securing Warner Bros. Discovery has led to concerns within the CNN newsroom.
Once again, CNN is facing an uncertain fate.
Netflix’s stunning surrender on Thursday in its effort to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery all but assures that the 24-hour news channel will soon be controlled by David Ellison, the chairman of Paramount Skydance and the technology heir best known in the journalism world for his recent revamp of CBS News.
Mr. Ellison’s intentions for the channel remain unclear. But the development has caused some shudders within the CNN newsroom, where the chief executive, Mark Thompson, felt compelled to issue a memo shortly after Netflix’s announcement.
Related stories
Related Knowledge Center: State of the business model
The traditional journalism business model has long since collapsed, and news organizations have shrunk or disappeared entirely. While a number of promising experiments are under way, the public has not shown a willingness to buy what news organizations are selling.
Related Knowledge Center: Inside the newsroom
As newsrooms struggle with rickety business models and precarious finances — as well as new technologies — they are deploying an array of editorial responses.
The Times and its critics | Washington Post mortem