How much will CNN’s editorial line shift to the right? Will the respected American news network evolve into a version of the pro-Trump Fox News? These are the concerns of many CNN employees, in light of the network’s acquisition by Paramount Skydance, owned by David Ellison, son of billionaire Larry Ellison, founder of the tech giant Oracle and a friend of President Trump.

As part of a deal worth $111 billion, Paramount Skydance is expected to complete, in the coming period, the acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, CNN’s parent company, despite the fact that Netflix had also made an offer to purchase the company.

The Ellison family advances into American media

Given the Ellison family’s push into American media, the fears of CNN employees are not unfounded. They worry that Paramount Skydance’s Trump-friendly ownership will alter CNN’s politically liberal identity and proceed with job cuts. The concerns are justified: since David Ellison purchased Paramount, merging it with his company, Skydance, in August 2025, the company has been accused of caving to Trump.

Paramount paid the American president $16 million to settle a lawsuit he had filed against the historic CBS program 60 Minutes, which also belongs to it, over the editing of an interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris that, according to Trump, defamed him.

The same program had also temporarily suspended the broadcast of a report about a prison in El Salvador to which the Trump administration had sent some migrants deported from the US.

In addition, Paramount cancelled the popular late-night show The Late Show with host Stephen Colbert, a program highly critical of Trump, announcing it would stop airing after May.

CNN: “An outstanding brand,” according to its new owner

In an interview, David Ellison maintained that CNN would remain an independent journalistic organization and that, just as CBS had retained its independence, CNN would do the same, describing it as “an outstanding brand” with an exceptional team of journalists, “which we will continue to support.”

It is worth noting that the US launched its attack on Iran one day after Paramount Skydance was confirmed as the winning bidder in the CNN acquisition process.

“Fake CNN News,” according to Trump

Despite assurances from Ellison and CNN CEO Mark Thompson that the network would not be affected by political pressure, “Politicians have an obvious motive to challenge the journalism that asks questions, but at CNN, our only interest is to tell the truth,” Thompson wrote in a post, two weeks after Paramount Skydance won the bid, the White House issued a statement accusing CNN of “lying” in its coverage of the US war with Iran.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth sharply criticized a CNN report on how the Trump administration had failed to foresee the war’s impact on the closure of the Strait of Hormuz — the waterway through which 20% of the world’s oil passes. “The sooner David Ellison takes over this network, the better,” Hegseth concluded.

Trump has claimed that the people running CNN “are a disgrace” and that it is imperative to sell the network, which he has called “Fake News CNN” for more than a decade. In February, Trump called Kaitlan Collins, CNN’s lead White House correspondent, “the worst reporter” when she asked him about the files of convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. He scolded her because, “even though he has known her for ten years, he has never seen her smile.” CNN backed the journalist, describing her as outstanding at her work.

CNN and CBS: Parallel lives

Although the White House’s current attacks on CNN feel like more of the same, there is now, as one CNN employee told the Washington Post anonymously, fearing for their job, “a big asterisk” over the network’s future, in light of the new ownership.

Another colleague said they were more worried about the possibility of mismanagement should CNN come under the control of the current head of CBS News, Bari Weiss, a former New York Times columnist and fierce opponent of “woke” culture.

Weiss, who was appointed to her position by Ellison and has been publicly praised by Trump, has already clashed with CBS as she tries to reshape the news organization in the first six months of her tenure.

The former film producer in the role of media mogul

Until last year, CNN’s new owner, David Ellison, 43, was a Hollywood producer — active in the industry for two decades. In 2006, he co-founded Skydance Media with his billionaire father and financed commercially successful film franchises such as Star Trek, Mission: Impossible, and Top Gun.

When the historic film studio Paramount faced serious financial difficulties in 2024 and began seeking potential buyers, the younger Ellison stepped in as its savior.