Paramount Skydance oo tixgelinaysa iibinta CNN iyadoo la wajahayo dacwad antitrust ah
Shirkadda Paramount Skydance ayaa la sheegay inay tixgelinayso iibinta CNN taas oo qayb ka ah dadaalka lagu xallinayo dacwad antitrust ah oo caqabad ku ah isku-dhafka $110bn ee Warner Bros. Discovery. 12 gobol oo uu hogaaminayo California ayaa dacweeyay joojinta heshiiskaas.
Doonista Iibinta iyo Dooda Sharciga
Talaadadii, shirka Agenda California ee Politico, sarkaalka sare ee sharciga ee Paramount, Makan Delrahim, wuxuu sheegay in iibinta suurtagalka ah ay miiska saaran tahay iyadoo 12 gobol oo uu hogaaminayo California ay dacweynayeen joojinta isku-dhafka. Wuxuu xaqiijiyay in shirkaddu ay diyaar u tahay wada-shaqeynta xisbiyada.
Delrahim wuxuu yiri: "We're not naive to know that politics does not exist." Dacwadda ayaa ku andacoota in isku-buuraynta istuudiyaha ay yaraynayso fursadaha macaamiisha iyo fursadaha shaqada ee sameeya telefishanka iyo filimada, sida lagu sheegay qodobbada dacwadda.
Walaacyada Madax-bannaanida Tifaftirka
Ellison ayaa wajahaya baaritaan ku saabsan balanqaadyadiisii ah inuu ilaalinayo madax-bannaanida tifaftirka ee CNN haddii isku-dhafka uu dhaco. CBS waxay xiligaas shaqaaleysiisay Bari Weiss, qoraa ra'yiga midigda ah oo aan khibrad telefishan lahayn, si uu u hoggaamiyo CBS News.
CBS waxay sidoo kale magacawday Kenneth Weinstein, oo ahayd qof loo magacaabay xilligii maamulka Trump, inuu noqdo ombudsman. Tan ka dib, CBS waxaa lagu eedeeyay ujeeddo tifaftireed oo midigta u leexatay, iyadoo ay baxday 60 Minutes oo ku saabsan siyaasadda tarxiilaadda Trump.
Dhaleeceyn iyo Saamaynta Suuqa
Writers Guild of America ayaa dhaleeceeyay hanjabaadda Paramount ee ah inay ka tagi karto California. Seth Stern oo ka tirsan Freedom of the Press Foundation wuxuu yiri: "The Attorneys General's lawsuit is an antitrust case that has nothing to do with CNN, so selling CNN would not resolve it."
Xeer-ileega Guud ee California Rob Bonta wuxuu digay in shirkadda cusub ay xakumayso 27 boqolkiiba filimada masraxa laga sii daayo ee suuqa Mareykanka. Suuqa saamiyada, Paramount Skydance waxay kordhay 1.1 boqolkiiba, Warner Bros. Discoveryna 1.4 boqolkiiba.
Paramount Skydance is reportedly exploring the sale of CNN as it navigates a mounting antitrust challenge to its proposed $110bn merger with Warner Bros. Discovery, with 12 US states led by California suing to block the deal.
Legal Strategy and Political Pressure
Paramount's chief legal officer Makan Delrahim confirmed at Politico's Agenda California conference that a potential CNN sale was on the table as the company faces legal pressure from 12 states. Delrahim, who served as an antitrust official during President Donald Trump's first term, stressed that Paramount Skydance had been transparent and was willing to work with both parties to move the merger forward.
Delrahim told the conference: 'We're not naive to know that politics does not exist.' He also appeared to ramp up political pressure ahead of California's gubernatorial election, stating: 'If I was governor, I wouldn't want to lose Hollywood from the state. I wouldn't want to lose a major company like Paramount to another state.'
Editorial Independence Under Scrutiny
The potential CNN sale comes as Ellison faces scrutiny over his promises to preserve the network's editorial independence. Ellison, whose father is Oracle cofounder Larry Ellison, has sought to reassure critics that he would not interfere with CNN's journalism, including in a New York Times op-ed last week in which he promised to preserve the network's independence.
These assurances echo promises Ellison made before Paramount Skydance took control of CBS News nearly a year ago. CBS subsequently hired Bari Weiss, a right-leaning opinion writer with no television experience, to lead CBS News, and appointed Kenneth Weinstein, a former Trump administration appointee, as an ombudsman to investigate allegations of bias.
Critics Say Sale Misses the Point
The Writers Guild of America criticised Paramount's reported threats to leave California, stating: 'By threatening to leave the state because it doesn't want the government to enforce the law, Paramount further proves the danger of its outsized power over the industry and what that will mean for writers and the creative community.'
Seth Stern, director of advocacy for the Freedom of Press Foundation, said selling CNN would not resolve the broader concerns surrounding the merger. He told Al Jazeera: 'The Attorneys General's lawsuit is an antitrust case that has nothing to do with CNN, so selling CNN would not resolve it. It also would not resolve separate censorship concerns from free speech advocates.'
