Paramount considers CNN editorial board amid Warner Bros. deal

MUMBAI: CNN may be getting a new layer of oversight before it gets a new owner. Paramount Skydance has discussed creating an editorial board and other safeguards to protect the news network’s independence if its proposed $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery goes through, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The company has in recent months considered an oversight committee and other measures for CNN’s news operation, with discussions around an editorial board beginning before California and 11 other states filed a lawsuit seeking to block the transaction, the report said.

“We always remain open to internal improvements to journalistic integrity,” Paramount Skydance said in a statement to the WSJ.

The proposed safeguards come as questions continue to surround how CNN would operate under Paramount ownership. Paramount CEO David Ellison has said he does not intend to influence the editorial direction of either CBS or CNN and has maintained that CNN would remain independent, with its journalism guided by facts rather than political interests.

The idea of an editorial board was also advocated by Ari Emanuel, a business partner of Ellison, who had previously raised the proposal as a way to address concerns about CNN’s independence under the proposed ownership structure.

The wider merger, however, remains on hold as the antitrust case moves through the federal court system. California and 11 other states have challenged the $110 billion transaction, arguing that combining Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery would give the resulting company excessive control over theatrical film distribution and cable television.

The trial is scheduled to begin in March 2027, leaving the proposed CNN safeguards to develop against the backdrop of a much larger regulatory battle.

Ellison has argued that the lawsuit is focused less on competition concerns and more on preventing him from acquiring CNN. The latest discussions suggest that protecting the network’s editorial autonomy is nevertheless becoming an important part of the proposed ownership structure.

For now, the editorial board remains a proposal rather than a confirmed feature of CNN’s future. But with the merger facing regulatory scrutiny, Paramount appears to be considering how to put guardrails around one of the most closely watched parts of the deal.