NEWS ANALYSIS | CNN, CBS News oversight board will be ‘toothless’, experts warn

David Ellison is set to take control of two of the biggest news organisations in the US after his Paramount Skydance completes its takeover of Warner Bros Discovery, giving him wide influence over the news media landscape. But experts warn his promise of editorial independence for CNN and CBS News is a hollow one.

Ellison agreed to create an editorial independence board to oversee CNN and CBS as part of Monday’s settlement with a coalition of 12 US states and a Hollywood writers’ union.

The group will be made up of five veteran journalists, to “establish guiding editorial and journalism principles for the combined entity’s news channels”. according to the agreement.

Scepticism abounds. “Genuine oversight of a news organisation is provided by its editors and owners. If they are not committed to doing things honourably themselves, nobody they appoint and pay can possibly be expected to do it for them,” said Dan Gillmor, a retired journalist and educator.

Notably, the board, whose members will be appointed and paid by the combined entity, is not explicitly granted investigative oversight and the binding nature of its decisions is unclear, leaving final authority in the hands of Ellison.

Some of CNN’s current and former staff are also questioning the settlement. Prominent journalist Kara Swisher said earlier this year that she plans to leave the network “as soon as I can” due to the Paramount takeover and dismissing the independence board as a “fig leaf”.

“Ellison’s record at CBS so far is not encouraging and is even troubling. I think he is a very pleasant person … That hardly matters, as I am only interested in how he behaves as a media owner. So far, I am not impressed,” said Swisher.

California attorney-general Rob Bonta said the board was a meaningful way to protect the integrity of CNN and CBS.

The settlement also creates an independent monitoring trustee with broad authority over film production and cable-licensing, but the trustee shall have “no role or authority relating to the combined entity’s news operations”.

“That’s a remarkable carveout,” said Jonathan Peters, a media law professor at the University of Georgia.

He said the settlement was not without legal merit because states had the power to enforce it in federal court, but there is a “significant enforcement gap” regarding editorial independence.

The concerns were also fuelled by legislators’ criticism of Ellison for tailoring news coverage at Paramount-owned CBS News to favour President Donald Trump. Critics fear how he would manage Warner’s CNN once it comes under his ownership.

There is also no provision that requires the board’s findings and decisions to be made public.

The companies said the board would also resolve internal disputes over reporting bias and disputes between news staff and management at CNN and CBS.