The Freedom of the Press Foundation is very unhappy with the CNN and CBS editorial board component of the Paramount settlement.
On Monday, Paramount and 12 state attorneys general agreed to a settlement that cleared the final hurdle for the $110 billion merger with Warner Bros. Discovery. A component of that settlement was the establishment of an editorial board to monitor CNN and CBS News’ independence, which will include five established active or retired journalists who have practice journalism for a minimum of 10 years.
The FPF took immediate issue with the idea of the board.
“A Paramount-appointed editorial independence board for CNN and CBS is worthless,” FPF Chief of Advocacy Seth Stern said in a statement obtained by TheWrap. “The fish rots from the head, and this particular fish is headed by a compromised oligarch with a history of throwing journalists under the bus to advance his business interests.”
He added: “The editorial board creates the same First Amendment problems it’s supposed to solve – the government meddling in the news. It’s unclear how the attorneys general or courts can constitutionally hold Paramount accountable for the board’s actions or inaction without themselves interfering in content. The attorneys general might be fine with censorship when they’re the ones doing it, but what happens when successors with opposing political views inherit enforcement powers?”
The settlement further stated that no more than two members of the board may be affiliated with the same political party and members were expected to serve for three years from the date of their appointment.
“And with respect to CBS, the editorial board makes even less sense,” Stern went on. “Ellison already traded away CBS’ editorial independence in his negotiations with Federal Communications Commission Chair and Trump loyalist Brendan Carr, hiring a career partisan as a ‘bias ombudsman’ and committing in regulatory submissions to truthful and unbiased reporting — practically the same words Bonta uttered at his shameful press conference. To Carr, of course, that means reporting that is uncritical of the administration.”
He finished: “Carr has said that he’d attempt to punish failure to abide by those terms, as he interprets them, as false statements to a federal agency. Bonta says his agreement is enforceable in court. So who will decide whether the news is fair, true, and unbiased? Will it be Carr, the bias ombudsman, the attorneys general, or the editorial board? Ultimately, the answer is Ellison, and by extension his buddy Donald Trump.”
The settlement agreement came Monday and included a minimum investment of at least $300 million annually in domestic TV and film production, or $1.5 billion over five years. Paramount has agreed to produce 30 films per year in the first two years of the deal, which will be upped to 32 per year in each of the following three years. At least four films per year must be independent films and at least 20% must be blockbusters. If Congress passes a federal film tax credit, Paramount agreed that 20% of all film production must be in the U.S. for the first two years of the merger and 30% of the next three.
Additionally, Paramount and WBD are required to continue negotiating their cable packages separately for five years to preserve competition. It also includes restrictions on changes to affiliate fee negotiations and agreements with distributors and a restriction on the use of confidential information. They must also continue to operate the free, ad-supported streaming service Pluto TV during the commitment period.
“We are grateful to Attorney General Bonta and his fellow AGs, as well as the WGA, for engaging in good faith to find a path forward to a resolution that serves all parties, and to Governor Newsom for his support throughout this process,” Ellison said in a statement following the settlement announcement. “Our shared aim was an outcome that best serves consumers, workers and — most importantly — the creative community so vital to the art of visual storytelling. We’re confident this agreement does exactly that, memorializing a series of commitments that include 30+ films annually and expanded U.S. film production to help revitalize our industry here at home.”
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