Mark Thompson told Paramount officials he would not share oversight of with another executive as Why does Anderson Cooper resist working for Bari Weiss after the and CBS merger moves closer to a decision point. The issue matters now because Paramount‘s $111 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery is getting closer to completion, and staffers are preparing for what it could mean for their newsroom.
Mark Thompson and
Thompson is 's editor-in-chief, and two sources said he used that line to make his position plain to Paramount officials. He has not heard from Ellison or his team about what his role will look like after the merger, leaving the newsroom without a clear outline of authority.
The immediate question inside the network is not whether the merger will close, but who will hold day-to-day control if it does. That uncertainty has spread because is part of Warner Bros. Discovery and would be pulled into the acquisition.
Ellison and Bari Weiss
David Ellison appointed Bari Weiss editor-in-chief of CBS News after Skydance closed its $8 billion deal for Paramount Global last summer. After that appointment, Bari Weiss drove many shifts at CBS News, including a major overhaul of 60 Minutes.
Nick Bilton became the new executive producer of 60 Minutes, Tanya Simon was terminated as executive producer, and many correspondents and producers were also fired. During a fiery meeting with Bilton, Scott Pelley said Weiss was “murdering 60 Minutes. She does not love this place; she was brought in to kill it and is doing exactly that.” He also told Bilton he had “slender qualifications.”
Editorial independence
Ellison has publicly stated that “editorial independence will absolutely be maintained,” even as reported that two people said Ellison and his deputies are contemplating whether Weiss will be put in charge of. The same report said two people briefed on internal discussions said Ellison has considered pairing Weiss with a more experienced TV executive who could handle the technical and financial aspects of the network.
That combination would leave the newsroom answerable to more than one layer of management, which is exactly what Thompson said he would not accept. For staffers, the practical issue is simple: whether Weiss gets any authority over the network, and whether Thompson keeps the editor-in-chief role he holds now.
What staffers face
Ellison's closeness to Donald Trump has already alarmed correspondents and employees. Trump said in a tribute to Ted Turner that he hopes 's new buyers, the Ellisons, “will be able to bring it back to its former credibility and glory.”
In April, Ellison held an event at the U.S. Institute of Peace in honor of Trump before the Justice Department cleared Paramount's deal to acquire Warner Bros. The sequence has only sharpened the focus on how the company will handle once the merger closes, because staff now have a pending ownership change and no final answer on who will run the network.
