Tell Congress to investigate Paramount’s crooked mergers

Action

AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein

David Ellison’s acquisition of CBS was enabled by a $16 million bribe to Donald Trump, laundered as a settlement of his frivolous lawsuit, and a commitment to alter news content to Trump’s liking.

Now, Ellison wants to repeat the same playbook at CNN and HBO. We need Congress to step up and investigate these bribes and quid pro quo arrangements.

Action 1 // takes 1 minute

Tell Congress to investigate Paramount’s crooked mergers

First Name *

Last Name

Email Address *

Street Address *

Zip Code * Enter a five digit US ZIP code

Edit this message so that it is unique to you:

Dear Member of Congress:

I am writing to urge you to investigate the Trump administration’s repeated extraction of bribes and editorial concessions from Paramount and its CEO, David Ellison.

Ellison’s acquisition of CBS’ parent company last year was enabled by a $16 million bribe to Donald Trump, laundered as a settlement of a frivolous lawsuit. Trump’s Federal Communications Commission approved the merger two days after Trump announced that he’d received the payment. The FCC also extracted commitments from Ellison to install a “bias ombudsman” and alter news content to the administration’s liking. Ellison eventually hired Kenneth Weinstein, a career partisan and Trump ally lacking journalistic experience, for the ombudsman role, because to the Trump administration, “bias” means any coverage critical of its misconduct and incompetence.

Ellison also hired Trump-aligned opinion writer Bari Weiss to run CBS News, despite her lack of journalistic experience. She has reportedly censored or attempted to censor multiple stories, all of which were critical of Trump or inconsistent with his preferred narratives. Most recently, she eviscerated “60 Minutes,” firing highly respected correspondents and producers, and bringing in Nick Bilton, another broadcast news novice, to run the show. Just-fired correspondent Scott Pelley said in a recent interview that the pressure to appease Trump is like nothing he’s encountered in his decades-long journalistic career.

Now, Ellison wants to buy Warner Bros. Discovery, which owns CNN and HBO, and repeat the same playbook. The Wall Street Journal reported that Ellison promised Trump “sweeping changes” at CNN — including firing journalists Trump doesn’t like — if the administration approves the merger. While Trump insults CBS and CNN journalists and baselessly threatens criminal investigations of CNN, Ellison and his father, Larry, throw dinner parties for Trump — and have the nerve to say they’re celebrating the First Amendment.

News outlets have a right to report whatever views they want, including Trump-friendly ones. But Trump does not have the right to abuse the powers of his office to coerce the press into debasing its coverage. Trump cannot be allowed to accomplish the kind of censorship the First Amendment forbids him from implementing by law by instead making backdoor deals with his billionaire buddies.

The American public deserves a full accounting of the deals Trump’s administration has made with Ellison to censor the news in exchange for merger approval. Any wrongdoing — criminal or otherwise — should be thoroughly investigated and those responsible should be held accountable.

Please use all powers available to you to investigate these bribes and quid pro quo arrangements, both now and when the next Congress is seated.

URLs are not allowed in this message.

* Required. We will not share your information with third parties. Learn more

Something went wrong processing this request. Please try again later.

Opt in to email updates from Freedom of the Press Foundation

Something went wrong and your email updates subscription could not be processed. Please visit our signup page and try again.

Thank you for urging your representatives to investigate Paramount’s crooked mergers and the Ellisons’ backdoor dealings with Trump.

Donate

Share this message on social media: https://freedom.press/action/tell-congress-to-investigate-paramounts-crooked-mergers/

Join me in urging your representatives to investigate Paramount’s crooked mergers and the Ellisons’ backdoor deals with Trump to censor the press:

Tell Congress to investigate Paramount’s crooked mergers

You completed all actions for this issue.

Sign Up. Take Action.