The Ellison Credibility Crisis
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The Paramount boss tried to convince the public he can be trusted with CNN. But staffers inside the network torched his Times essay in brutal comments to Status, pointing to his disastrous record at CBS News.
Early Tuesday morning, The New York Times published a guest essay from David Ellison, in which the Paramount boss and Oracle scion made his case— yet again —for his proposed $111 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery. In the piece, Ellison recycled his usual pro-merger talking points, but he also curiously identified what he believes to be the real reason a dozen states have sued to block the deal.
"I believe this fight is not really about market share," Ellison wrote, but is about "the news," specifically whether he can "be trusted as a steward of Warner's CNN."
As he worked to persuade the public that he would be a good owner of the Ted Turner -founded news behemoth, in addition to CBS News, Ellison insisted he does not wish “to bend their newsrooms” to his views. However, in the very next paragraph, Ellison stated that he would like to see these organizations "reflect the whole world, not one side of it.” On one hand, he insisted he has no intention of meddling in the news. On the other, he signaled that he does have some views about the news, apparently that one side of the political equation deserves fairer treatment. The wink and nod is rather clear.
In any event, Ellison's essay was not well received inside CNN. In fact, if the Paramount chief had hoped to win over some of the network’s deeply skeptical journalists he would like to lead, he appears to have failed spectacularly. On Tuesday, I spoke with 10 CNNers, ranging in seniority across the company. The sentiment was…
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The "60 Minutes" logo. (CBS News/Status illustration)
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