A coalition of press freedom organizations, journalists and academics is calling on Paramount CEO David Ellison to condemn President Donald Trump’s White House ban on CNN, MS NOW and Politico — and commit to backing CNN’s legal challenge if his company ultimately acquires the network.
“This moment is a test of your sincerity,” the coalition wrote in a letter to Ellison published Monday. “We further call on you to publicly commit to fully backing any legal challenge to the illegal ban should you come to own CNN.”
The letter comes as CNN, MS NOW and Politico jointly filed a federal lawsuit Monday challenging the Trump administration’s decision to revoke their journalists’ White House access. The outlets argue the move violates their First Amendment rights and are seeking a temporary restraining order restoring their access.
The letter puts new scrutiny on Ellison’s promises about CNN’s editorial independence as Paramount-Skydance seeks to acquire the network. Ellison has said CNN would remain independent under his ownership and that he does not intend to bend his newsrooms to his own views.
It also arrives as Paramount moves closer to completing its $110 billion Warner Bros. Discovery deal. Paramount and 12 state attorneys general reached a settlement Monday ending the states’ lawsuit seeking to block the merger. The final terms could not immediately be learned; protections for CNN’s editorial independence had been among the measures discussed during settlement talks.
“We need you to make clear that you stand with the reporters, photographers, camera operators, and other journalists you seek to employ, even when their reporting angers the president,” the coalition wrote.
Among the organizations signing the letter are the Committee to Protect Journalists, Freedom of the Press Foundation, PEN America, Reporters Without Borders, the Radio Television Digital News Association, the Society of Professional Journalists and The NewsGuild-CWA. Individual signatories include journalists, filmmakers and academics, including documentary filmmaker Laura Poitras.
Trump announced Friday that he was banning CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House “effective immediately,” accusing the outlets of reporting “fake news.” Journalists from all three organizations were subsequently turned away from the White House grounds and had their press credentials confiscated.
A representative for Paramount did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.
You can read the full letter below:
Dear Mr. Ellison: We are a coalition of current and former journalists, documentary filmmakers, professors, and press freedom and civil liberties organizations and advocates. We are alarmed by President Donald Trump’s recent ban on White House access for CNN, as well as MS NOW and Politico. Trump has also said that he might ban more news outlets. That could include CBS News, especially if its reporting upsets him. We hope you are alarmed too, as your company, Paramount-Skydance, owns CBS News and seeks to acquire CNN. Last month, you wrote an op-ed for the New York Times seeking to assure your critics that you value independent journalism and, despite you and your father Larry’s political, financial and social ties to Trump, you could be trusted to operate CNN with integrity and without political meddling. Given widespread reports that you and your father have promised Trump editorial concessions in exchange for merger approvals, as well as numerous other actions that have raised red flags, people are understandably skeptical. That includes CNN journalists. This moment is a test of your sincerity. We call on you and Paramount-Skydance to publicly, harshly and immediately condemn Trump’s unconstitutional ban on news outlets he dislikes, in violation of decades of precedent protecting the press from content-based punishment, including retaliatory restrictions on their access. We further call on you to publicly commit to fully backing any legal challenge to the illegal ban should you come to own CNN. CNN, under its current ownership, has already released a statement, as have MS NOW and Politico, and they’ve announced they’ll file a lawsuit. Only one of those entities, however, has a parent company seeking to close a transaction in the near future that could steer control of its news operations to friends and political allies of the president. We need you to make clear that you stand with the reporters, photographers, camera operators, and other journalists you seek to employ, even when their reporting angers the president. If you fail to do so, the only logical conclusion is that your claims to value press freedom, editorial independence and the First Amendment are empty talk and can’t be trusted.
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