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CNN presenter Christiane Amanpour has voiced fears over David Ellison’s takeover of the news channel as part of Paramount’s $111bn acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery, emphasising the importance of journalistic independence.
Speaking at the Truth Tellers investigative journalism conference in London on Wednesday, the British-Iranian news anchor said “clearly I am concerned . . . as a person, as a journalist with a record”, about Ellison’s future ownership.
“I would like to think [CNN] are going to have the very basic, which is editorial independence,” Amanpour said.
Amanpour’s comments echo worries expressed privately among the news channel’s staff over the change in ownership to a billionaire with ties to President Donald Trump, who has spent much of his political career fiercely criticising CNN’s coverage.
The host of CNN’s flagship global affairs programme pointed to the “ideological realignment” of rival broadcaster CBS News since its acquisition by Ellison’s Skydance last year.
As part of the approval of Skydance’s $8bn takeover of CBS owner Paramount, which came weeks after Trump accepted $16mn to settle a legal dispute with the broadcaster, Skydance pledged to scrutinise the news channel for political bias and cut diversity initiatives.
Amanpour said CBS News had been “haemorrhaging viewers and probably haemorrhaging money” under Ellison’s ownership.
She also pointed to the “destruction, potentially, of 60 Minutes” as a top-rated show. The longstanding CBS programme’s executive producer, Bill Owens, quit last year over his inability to make “independent decisions”, while anchor Anderson Cooper left the show earlier this year.
In an interview with CNBC in March, Ellison said CNN was “an incredible brand with an incredible team, and we absolutely believe in the independence that needs to be maintained”.
He added: “We’re going to invest in the news business, and we think this transaction will be a positive for both CBS News and CNN. Editorial independence will absolutely be maintained. It’s maintained at CBS, it’ll be maintained at CNN.”
Paramount has signalled that it will cut billions of dollars in costs as it merges with WBD, which is expected to lead to extensive job losses, but has not made clear if or how it would bring together CBS News and CNN under a single news media brand.
CNN’s chief executive Mark Thompson has sought to calm fears within CNN, telling staff in a February memo not to “jump to conclusions about the future until we know more”.
Paramount’s acquisition of WBD is awaiting approval from global regulators, with the deal expected to be completed by the end of the third quarter.
Barry Diller, chair of media conglomerate IAC, separately told a conference on Tuesday that he would “absolutely” buy CNN “before they ruin it any further”. He added: “Hopefully before it’s extinct, which, I mean, it’s not going to be.”
CNN did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Paramount declined to comment.
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