In an effort to get his Paramount-Warner Bros. merger approved, Paramount CEO David Ellison took to the far-left New York Times on Tuesday, hoping to ease the left’s mind about his intentions regarding CNN (which is part of Warner Bros.).
Unfortunately, in doing so, Ellison inadvertently made a strategic error that will only increase opposition to the merger from CNN staffers, the Democrat Party that counts on CNN’s propaganda, and the handful of Americans (mostly divorced, middle-aged white women with green hair) who count on the basement-rated outlet to tell them they are right about everything.
In his op-ed, Ellison states — correctly, in my opinion — that the fight against the merger has nothing to do with the movie and television divisions of Warner Bros. Instead, he writes, the real “worry sits beneath the briefs and the news releases: the news. The issue is whether I can be trusted as a steward of Warner’s CNN.”
That’s exactly right. The rest is exactly wrong, as in the exact wrong message if he wants to ease the opposition’s mind…
“I have regularly voted for candidates of both parties; I hold some views that would be called conservative and others that would be called liberal, just like most American,” he admits. Then he stupidly promises that “when it comes to our news operations, I do not aspire to lead these companies to bend their newsrooms to my views. I believe that news should be based on facts and truth.”
Then he basically promises to completely destroy everything CNN stands for today:
Great news organizations like CNN and CBS News are here to tell it straight down the middle. That requires newsrooms that reflect the whole world, not one side of it. And it requires independence. Our journalists will continue to answer to the facts and to all the people they serve — not to any party or cause.
Ellison does not appear to understand that no one at CNN wants to tell the truth.
Does Ellison not understand that a CNN that reports the facts will no longer be CNN?
If Ellison were truly serious about easing everyone’s mind about his potential stewardship of CNN, he would assure everyone that nothing at CNN would change. Then he would attach this list with the solemn pledge that CNN will be allowed to carry on this way:
The last thing CNN wants is to report facts and truth. I’m surprised that a smart guy like David Ellison doesn’t understand that.