CNN Anxiety Mounts as Paramount Nears Control

The Wrap: “Anxiety is high inside CNN, as staffers grapple with the growing likelihood that Paramount’s David Ellison — who appointed Free Press cofounder Bari Weiss to reshape CBS News and has recalled having ‘great conversations’ with President Donald Trump about acquiring CNN parent Warner Bros. Discovery — could ultimately take control of the cable news channel.”

Oliver Darcy: “While the move all but guarantees brutal layoffs across the company, it landed like a meteor at Hudson Yards. Inside CNN, alarm bells went off as staffers began to panic over the suddenly very real prospect that they could be working for Bari Weiss before the end of the year.”

Said one insider: ‘The panic at CNN right now is off the charts.”

“At this stage, CNN staffers have every reason to be worried about the future. What is unfolding is plain as day. Trump, who has despised CNN more than any other institution throughout his political career, wants to neuter the network. He wants to break it. And that is precisely why his administration did everything it could to tilt the scales against Netflix and in Ellison’s favor.“