Top Paramount Executive Says David Ellison Wants to Bring CNN ‘Back to News’

A top executive at Paramount says would-be new CNN owner David Ellison will “bring it back to news” when the entertainment giant acquires the news network, a remark that reportedly roiled staffers at CNN’s Hudson Yards headquarters.

In a short clip posted by CNN’s chief media analyst Brian Stelter from Politico’s California Agenda event, Paramount Chief Legal Officer Makan Elrahim said, “What David wants to do, with CNN is, I’ll refer you to his op-ed in the New York Times. He wants to bring it back to news.”

Ellison’s Times op-ed did not include Elrahim’s remark, but did make mention of a plan to “tell it straight down the middle.”

“Great news organizations like CNN and CBS News are here to tell it straight down the middle,” Ellison wrote. “That requires newsrooms that reflect the whole world, not one side of it. And it requires independence. Our journalists will continue to answer to the facts and to all the people they serve — not to any party or cause.”

In a follow-up post, Stelter said, “Maybe the line didn’t mean much to Delrahim — he hasn’t clarified or elaborated — but it raised eyebrows among journalists given that CNN has been a global news brand for 46 years. “Back” to news implies otherwise and echoes a familiar right-wing talking point.”

The $110 billion megadeal between Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery is currently on hold after 12 state attorneys general brought an antitrust lawsuit last month.

During the same California Agenda conference, Delrahim revealed that a possible sale of CNN was “on the table,” to resolve one of those suits from California, Reuters reported on Wednesday.

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