In a recent staff meeting for the Sunday news program “60 Minutes,” journalist Scott Pelley accused CBS News head Bari Weiss of “murdering the show” and grilled an executive about mass firings at the network. The heated meeting comes as CBS News has seen a major shift rightward and increased censorship under Weiss, a right-wing commentator who was installed as editor-in-chief of the network’s…
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Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chair Brendan Carr made a social media post on March 15 that free speech advocates say will go down in history as a blatant attempt at wartime censorship. Instead of warning consumers about current efforts by billionaire oligarchs to consolidate cable news broadcasters under their control, the FCC chair threatened the broadcasters by suggesting they…
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Following an increased re-bid from Paramount Skydance to purchase Warner Bros. Discovery, the online streaming service company Netflix has bowed out of the running. The decision, made on Thursday, means that Paramount Skydance will likely be approved for the purchase of the company, whose portfolio includes the news organization CNN. In a joint statement, Netflix co-chief executives Ted…
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While media executives orchestrate mega-merger deals this winter, media workers are facing a maelstrom of job cuts and anti-union hostility, with old patterns of inequity surfacing in a wave of corporate consolidation and technological disruption. Those two faces of corporate media were in the spotlight earlier this month, when red-clad members of the New York NewsGuild stood passing out…
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Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, an ally of US President Donald Trump and one of the richest men in the world, pledged on Monday to provide $40.4 billion to help finance his son’s hostile bid to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery, the owner of CNN, HBO Max, and other major media assets. The billionaire’s personal financing guarantee was announced in a press release issued by Paramount Skydance…
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It’s becoming something of a theme: Two massive companies are fighting to take over another massive company, in a deal that will enrich a variety of shareholders but leave the rest of us worse off. The news that Netflix struck a bid to take over movie powerhouse Warner Bros. earlier this month likely horrified entertainment workers: Two Goliaths of the industry combining is no good for pay…
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