David Ellison Says Opposition to Paramount-Warner Bros. Is Over His Control of CNN, Claims He Will Not ‘Bend Newsrooms to My Views’
Paramount CEO David Ellison said he believes the antitrust litigation filed by 12 states and the Writers Guild of America isn’t about market share but...
Key points
- Paramount CEO David Ellison said he believes the antitrust litigation filed by 12 states and the Writers Guild of America isn’t about market share but about “whether I can be trusted as a steward of Warner’s CNN.” Ellison, in an op-ed published by the New York Times Tuesday, noted, “There has been speculation about my politics, my loyalties, my intentions.” He reiterated his pledge that CNN would remain independent under a merged Paramount-Warner Bros.
- I believe that news should be based on facts and truth,” Ellison wrote.
- Murrow, and it is exactly that kind of independence that has always fueled the greatness of ‘60 Minutes.’” Ellison said he has not heretofore publicly weighed in on the litigation aimed at blocking the Paramount-WBD merger because “I believe that anyone who oversees a news organization — I am chief executive of Paramount, which owns CBS — shouldn’t put a finger on the scale, especially on matters involving his own company.” So “when California’s attorney general, 11 other state attorneys general and, a day later, the Writers Guild of America sued to stop the deal, I stayed quiet.
- Ellison had hoped to have closed Paramount’s $111 billion takeover of Warner Bros.
What happened
Paramount CEO David Ellison said he believes the antitrust litigation filed by 12 states and the Writers Guild of America isn’t about market share but about “whether I can be trusted as a steward of Warner’s CNN.” Ellison, in an op-ed published by the New York Times Tuesday, noted, “There has been speculation about my politics, my loyalties, my intentions.” He reiterated his pledge that CNN would remain independent under a merged Paramount-Warner Bros. I believe that news should be based on facts and truth,” Ellison wrote. Murrow, and it is exactly that kind of independence that has always fueled the greatness of ‘60 Minutes.’” Ellison said he has not heretofore publicly weighed in on the litigation aimed at blocking the Paramount-WBD merger because “I believe that anyone who oversees a news organization — I am chief executive of Paramount, which owns CBS — shouldn’t put a finger on the scale, especially on matters involving his own company.” So “when California’s attorney general, 11 other state attorneys general and, a day later, the Writers Guild of America sued to stop the deal, I stayed quiet. Ellison had hoped to have closed Paramount’s $111 billion takeover of Warner Bros....
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