CNN’s Mark Thompson announced Monday that he will be staying on as the community’s chairman and editor-in-chief after the $81 billion merger of Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery.
Bari Weiss, the editor-in-chief of CBS News who was hand-picked by Ellison last 12 months and carried out massacre layoffs at “60 Minutes,” will stay in her present position, according to the press release.
Thompson will be reporting immediately to Ellison, the chairman and chief govt of the mixed company named Skydance, and his new co-CEO, Ynon Kreiz, who beforehand ran Mattel, according to a press release.
“Having now spoken to them [Skydance executives] at length on the topic, I have real confidence that they both understand and will fully support the principle and practice of the kind of independent news that CNN has always stood for,” Thompson wrote in a memo to workers.
CNN’s Mark Thompson (above) will stay at the community. Getty Images for Warner Bros. Discovery
“I know many of you have had trepidations about this moment. That’s understandable – indeed, as I’ve hinted before, I’ve had the odd moment or two myself!” he added. “But I want to say that on the eve of the acquisition of CNN by Paramount Skydance, I find myself in a very positive frame of mind.”
Thompson said in his memo that some of the “specifics of how CNN will plug into and operate in the new company have yet to be finalized” since the merger course of is ongoing, but he will have “the same responsibilities and prerogatives that I have now.”
His present contract is due to expire in the spring, but he has been in talks with executives to renew his contract, the New York Times reported.
Weiss had initially been promised CNN when she took over CBS News, but that Ellison subsequently concluded “her current role is more than she can handle,” a individual with data of the scenario instructed The Post.
David Ellison (above) will be working the mixed company. Getty Images for Paramount
The Post also reported that Weiss stays in the Ellisons’ good graces despite public backlash over her firing of “60 Minutes” legends and her hiring of unconventional correspondents and producers.
A source close to the scenario said David’s father, Oracle billionaire Larry Ellison, who is largely backing the acquisition, “still loves Bari” and needs to keep her on, while another individual said the company could finally pivot to a single govt working both CNN and CBS News.
At the mixed Skydance, Ellison will focus on the company’s long-term strategy and artistic imaginative and prescient, while Kreiz will focus on the company’s day-to-day management and integration of the mixed companies, according to the press release.
Ellison, Kreiz and Andy Gordon, president of Skydance, will also all serve on the board of administrators, with Ellison as chairman.
CNN will get an unbiased editorial board. Christopher Sadowski
The large media merger is slated to close Tuesday after reaching an antitrust settlement with California Attorney General Rob Bonta, who organized a coalition of 12 lefty attorneys basic who opposed the deal on fears it could raise costs, damage staff and scale back movie releases.
It included an settlement to set up unbiased editorial boards to oversee CNN and CBS News, following considerations the Ellisons – close allies of President Trump – could sway the protection on the storied networks.
Prior to becoming a member of CNN in 2023, Thompson served as president and chief govt of the New York Times, main the information outlet’s digital transformation.
He said he will proceed his work on CNN’s digital subscription business and that the company’s new leaders “are as excited about it as we are.”
