CNN’s Missed Opportunity

A promising digital transition is underway. But a Paramount buyout will likely doom the progress being made.

On the morning of February 28, the day the United States and Israel launched an attack on Iran, CNN, with its vast network of journalists stationed around the world, snapped into action. Jeremy Diamond, the network’s Jerusalem correspondent, reported on Israel’s killing of Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader. Across the Gulf, an array of other CNN reporters provided firsthand accounts of Iran’s retaliatory strikes. In the days that followed, Clarissa Ward interviewed a senior Kurdish official about a possible ground offensive, and Frederik Pleitgen documented his journey into Iran via a winding mountain road.

In the landscape of TV news, CNN’s ability to ramp up international coverage at a moment’s notice remains unparalleled. But last month, its corporate owner, Warner Bros. Discovery, agreed to an acquisition by Paramount for thirty-one dollars a share, besting Netflix’s $27.75-per-share offer in a deal that will net WBD shareholders an extra eleven billion dollars. Suddenly, CNN’s niche fell under threat. In conversations about CNN with Donald Trump, David Ellison, the owner of Paramount, reportedly promised “sweeping changes,” leaving network staffers “upset” and “shaken.” His father, Larry, the founder of Oracle, has said of Trump, “I support him, and I want him to do well.” David Ellison later stated that CNN’s editorial independence “needs to be maintained,” but the anxiety very much remains. On Friday, Pete Hegseth—the secretary of war, as he likes to be called—remarked, “More fake news from CNN.… The sooner David Ellison takes over that network, the better.”