One of CNN’s most recognizable and influential voices, chief international anchor Christiane Amanpour, has voiced concerns about CBS News parent company Paramount Skydance’s acquisition of CNN parent company Warner Bros Discovery and what it might mean for the cable news network.
Speaking at the Truth Tellers summit honoring the late English journalism pioneer, Sir Harry Evans, Amanpour said: “Clearly I’m concerned, and I’m not sure how much I’m allowed to say about a corporate thing that’s under way, but I am obviously, as a person, as a journalist with a record, concerned, and I’m concerned based on what’s happened to the other things that [Paramount Skydance chief executive, David Ellison, has] taken over already, like CBS News.” Amanpour noted how the network had done since it came under the control of Skydance last summer and nodded to reports about major changes coming to the Sunday show, 60 Minutes.
“I mean, do I have to list what’s happening there? I mean, hemorrhaging viewers, probably hemorrhaging money. This ideological realignment of CBS and the destruction, potentially of 60 Minutes … I mean, nobody can match 60 Minutes for a brilliant television magazine show that’s been doing hard news and cultural news for decades – top-rated, top money-maker for the network. So clearly, obviously, I’m concerned. I would like to think that we would have the very basic, which is editorial independence. I’m hoping for that. I know many of us at CNN are incredibly – including leadership – are very, very committed to that, clearly. And I don’t think I need to say more than that.”
A spokesperson for Paramount Skydance declined comment on Amanpour’s remarks.
Last week, Sharyn Alfonsi, a longtime 60 Minutes correspondent, decried “the spread of corporate meddling and editorial fear” at CBS News.
Employees at both CBS and CNN privately expressed concerns about a potential combination of the two networks when CBS News parent company Paramount Skydance emerged as the likely winning bidder to acquire CNN parent company Warner Bros Discovery in late February.
Ellison has not laid out a specific strategy for CNN beyond saying that his news networks will aim for viewers who are not tightly wedded to one of the political parties. Ellison has said publicly that he values editorial independence.
But, Ellison’s father, tech billionaire Larry Ellison, spoke with at least one White House official about making changes at CNN, including the possibility of axing some of the CNN hosts whom Donald Trump is said to loathe.
Seemingly talking about the Trump administration, Amanpour said that leaders in the west think that journalists should “simply be sycophants and megaphones and bolster them, and they do not like when we actually report the truth”.
“The President is accountable to the people through us,” Amanpour added. “That’s our job, the fourth estate. Period. End of story.”
During the same discussion, Emma Tucker, the Wall Street Journal editor, talked about the rise of pre-publication lawsuits meant to chill journalism.
“Increasingly it is the case that before you even get to publication, lawsuits come raining down on you – a whole torrent of legal letters come your way,” she said.
