An Illegal, Unjustified War Underscores Danger of Media Consolidation

We need diverse, critical news coverage more than ever

Donald Trump launched another illegal war over the weekend, throwing out patently false justifications for a war of choice. Fortunately, CNN was among those with swift, accurate, and aggressive coverage. But what if CNN were reduced to a captive of Trump’s billionaire buddy, David Ellison? That’s what lies ahead, unless Ellison’s proposed takeover of Warner Bros. is stopped. And it can be.

Media industry coverage at the end of last week by and large treated the announced Paramount/CBS takeover of Warner Bros. as a done deal. Reports too often seemed to skip past the significant legal barriers to the merger, preferring to go straight to the panic. Certainly, if the merger goes through, the new mega-conglomerate will further consolidate an industry already overly consolidated. Even more ominous for democracy, the merger would put another news outlet known for exacting coverage of breaking foreign events, CNN, in the hands of a Trump-friendly billionaire.

However, the deal is not done. Defenders of democracy and advocates of competitive markets are already digging in, and they deserve public support from Americans rightly concerned about the growing power of unaccountable oligarchs who control an increasing slice of our economy and dominate our politics.

No doubt, the fix is likely already in with Trump’s corrupt Justice Department to rubber stamp the merger, but DOJ is not the only hurdle. Most importantly, our federal system provides another avenue to contest the deal. (UK and EU regulators will also get to weigh in.)

Fortunately, within hours of Ellison’s announcement, California Attorney General Rob Bonta, in a statement released on a platform ingested by another Trump billionaire pal (Elon Musk), wrote: “Paramount/Warner Bros. is not a done deal.” He added, “These two Hollywood titans have not cleared regulatory scrutiny — the California Department of Justice has an open investigation, and we intend to be vigorous in our review.”

State antitrust litigation has become a robust, viable alternative to the feds. George Mason Law Review in 2022 explained: “State antitrust regulators have brought dozens of large cases over the last twenty years in areas from telecom mergers to complex pharmaceutical cases.” The article continued that while individual cases used to be the norm, “many cases are now brought as multistate actions incorporating large groups of attorneys general joined into one litigation that is filed in federal court under the Sherman or Clayton Act.”

Bonta, as he has in a host of other cases brought against the Trump regime, may well find partners among other active Democratic attorneys general.

Bonta was hardly alone in expressing concern. Former FTC commissioner Alvaro Bedoya added, “One family is about to control CBS, CNN, HBO, and TikTok. They’ll buy WBD with $24 billion in money from the Saudis, Qatar, and Abu Dhabi. To win over Trump, they canceled Colbert, blocked a CECOT investigation, and blocked [James] Talarico. Much more will follow. Block this rotten deal.” Consider how an outlet with heavy investment from Middle East countries might be less than independent in its coverage of nuanced wars involving those very countries.

Democrats on Capitol Hill also have a role to play. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) was exactly right to lay down a marker and elevate the merger to a critical election issue. “Paramount should enjoy its growing news monopoly while they have it because when Democrats win back power we are going to break up these anti-democratic information conglomerates,” Murphy said. “All of them.”

Antitrust is not usually a sexy subject, but given public animosity against big business and big tech specifically, this issue’s time may have come. Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Adam Schiff (D-Cal.), and Cory Booker (D-N.J.) all blasted the proposed deal.

Warren, a longtime antitrust warrior, questioned whether the bidding for Warner Bros. was rigged:

A Paramount Skydance-Warner Bros. merger is an antitrust disaster threatening higher prices and fewer choices for American families. What did Trump officials tell the Netflix CEO today at the White House? A handful of Trump-aligned billionaires are trying to seize control of what you watch and charge you whatever price they want. With the cloud of corruption looming over Trump’s Department of Justice, it’ll be up to the American people to speak up and state attorneys general to enforce the law.

If Democrats win control of one or both house, they will be able to subpoena records, conduct hearings, and propose legislation to slow down or block merger mania.

The head-snapping consolidation of entertainment and news, coupled with billionaire Trump-suck ups’ acquisition of news properties, has transformed the media landscape. This did not begin with Trump, but the added ingredient of oligarch capture now poses an existential threat to entertainment diversity and news independence — while introducing the potential for foreign interference and manipulation of our news and entertainment.

As disturbing as entertainment monopolies may be (fewer outlets will pay lower wages, charge higher prices, and neglect markets deemed “too niche”), the gravest danger to democracy is allowing corporations and oligarchs beholden to the president (i.e., friendly or compromised by fear of regulation or retaliation) to have a stranglehold on news coverage. (Strongmen in Italy and Hungary took precisely this path.)

CNN soon may be cheerleading every regime-change war, putting MAGA toady Scott Jennings in the anchor chair, and canning legitimate news people (e.g., Anderson Cooper, Wolf Blitzer, Dana Bash). You don’t even have to use your imagination. CBS head Bari Weiss’s blocking 60 Minutes’ CECOT report and her cringeworthy tweet sneering at New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani and his critique of the illegal war tells you how far CBS has fallen — and likely where CNN is headed.

How long before tenacious Kaitlan Collins gets yanked from the White House beat or every guest and panelist is an inveterate MAGA liar? If CNN recently has been too accommodating to Trump (e.g., the ridiculed town hall, a presidential debate without factchecking), that coverage many soon seem like aggressive journalism by comparison to oligarch news.

Of course, Ellison could decide to shutter either CNN or CBS entirely. But even if CNN survives in some form, Ellison/Weiss control would quickly destroy its credibility, leaving viewers outside the MAGA cult with few choices. Creating a national news desert may be autocrats’ goal.

Major news events — including complex wars — highlight the danger in allowing a few MAGA billionaires to control our news. Voters should support political leaders with adequate legal and legislative tools who are determined to halt media consolidation. Unless they reverse this ominous trend, the oligarchs’ grip on America will tighten, disinformation will dominate our mainstream media environment, foreign leaders will shape our news, and democracy will wither.

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