Why the Paramount-Warner merger is a problem for democracy
The October 2026 merger of Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery created Skydance Corporation, now controlling CNN, CBS News, Warner Bros., Paramount Pictures, HBO and Paramount+, in a deal valued around $110 billion including debt, with plans to cut at least $6 billion in costs within three years. Twelve states sued on antitrust grounds; the settlement imposed a multiyear production guarantee and an editorial independence board for CNN and CBS News, though both outlets' leaders still answer to Skydance CEO David Ellison.
The author, a media studies scholar, traces this to a decades-long shift toward treating broadcasting as a commercial product rather than a public good, citing a 1981 FCC chairman who called television ‘a toaster with pictures’ and research showing Sinclair's 2017 acquisitions shifted local stations toward national political content.
The piece notes that trust in mass media has fallen to 33% from 68% in 1972, and that attention-driven social platforms now expose users to more toxic political content than chronological feeds ever did. It argues markets alone won't fund the kind of journalism that benefits entire communities regardless of who pays for it.
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