CNN chief prescribes calm after staff anxiety over Paramount's expected purchase of parent company

Word had barely spread about Paramount's apparent victory in the competition to buy Warner Bros. Discovery before CNN chief Mark Thompson wrote to staff members. His message, in effect: Keep calm and carry on.

It's a tall order. The network's future — whether familiar faces stay or go, whether the outlet changes editorial direction — will be watched intently if the corporate deal clears regulatory hurdles and goes through. Anxious observers are left to interpret signals from Paramount's management of CBS News for what it could mean at CNN.

“Despite all the speculation you've read during this process, I'd suggest that you don't jump to conclusions until we know more,” Thompson wrote in his internal memo, telling employees to focus on delivering journalism to their customers.

Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav said in a company town hall on Friday that he recognized Paramount's win over Netflix “feels a little whiplashy,” according to CNN's Brian Stelter. Zaslav predicted the deal would take six months to close. Paramount leader David Ellison has not commented on the developments or his plans for the network's future.

But in an already volatile media environment, the trepidation — if not the outcome itself — stands to be seismic.

President Trump hasn't been shy in his criticism of CNN

CNN originated the concept of 24-hour cable news when Ted Turner started it 45 years ago. Its domestic network is less popular now than two rivals who appeal primarily to specific audiences — Fox News to conservatives and MS NOW, formerly MSNBC, to liberals. President Donald Trump is decidedly not a fan, and his criticism of CNN during his first term badly damaged the network's brand among conservatives.

In December, the president said that CNN spread “poison and lies,” adding that “I think the people who have run CNN for the last long period of time are a disgrace. I think it's imperative that CNN be sold.”

Ellison and his billionaire father, Larry, both have ties to Trump. David Ellison sat in the gallery on Tuesday to watch the president deliver his State of the Union address.

Shortly after Paramount took control of CBS News last summer, the company settled a lawsuit filed by Trump against “60 Minutes.” The president, who did not appear on the newsmagazine while running for re-election, sat for an interview last fall, and another on the “CBS Evening News” in January.

Ellison installed a Republican official as a CBS ombudsman to guard against signs of bias, and his work has been publicly invisible. Bari Weiss, an opinion journalist and founder of the Free Press website, became CBS News editor-in-chief, with her moves scrutinized by outsiders for signs that she was moving the network to the right. She has said she wants to appeal to the nation's broad center.

Suspicions by critics fueled the story in December when Weiss ordered a “60 Minutes” story critical of how Trump has deported immigrants held to get more comment from the administration. The story aired a month later.

It's not known whether Ellison will try to merge CBS News and CNN; the idea has been explored a handful of times in the past. The Wall Street Journal reported in December that Ellison assured Trump administration officials that he'd make “sweeping changes” to CNN if he bought it. Paramount did not return calls for comment on Friday.

Trump has, at different junctures, attacked every single host on CNN’s weeknight lineup.

On social media in 2023, he said Erin Burnett reported fake stories about him, suggesting of her show: “Put it to sleep.” He has repeatedly slurred Anderson Cooper, who is gay, by referring to him with a woman’s first name. Earlier this month, he called Kaitlan Collins “the worst reporter” when she asked him about the Epstein files at the White House. Last year, on social media, he called Abby Phillip “strictly 3rd rate."

Only two weeks ago, Cooper decided to leave “60 Minutes,” where he had a job share with CNN, and now he might find himself working with Weiss again.

A plea to maintain independence

“Since its founding by Ted Turner in 1980, CNN has provided news that viewers can trust," said Tom Johnson, former network president in the 1990s. "News that is accurate and fair. I truly hope the new CNN owner will maintain its journalistic independence and excellence. I am deeply worried that he will not.”

Despite the concerns, there are dangers in suggesting that CBS News and Paramount are one-note Trump supporters. “60 Minutes,” for example, has continued to do tough stories about administration policies. CBS said it was ending the late-night comedy show of Trump critic Stephen Colbert this May, but Paramount also extended the contracts of Jon Stewart and the “South Park” co-founders on Comedy Central.

Many at CNN had been living in fear for their jobs even before this announcement, said former network correspondent Jim Acosta, who left to start his own online show after sparring with Trump during the president's first administration.

“Trump has cracked the code in how to hurt the media,” Acosta said. “This is bigger than just one company. This is deeply un-American.”