Under a 12-state settlement, Paramount must create a five-member board to monitor editorial independence at CNN and CBS News, but its directors will appoint all five. The company has up to 180 days after the Warner Bros. Discovery deal closes to form it.
The board must comprise active or retired journalists with at least 10 years’ experience; Paramount’s board can remove members only for good cause, and members are expected to serve three-year terms. It will set editorial principles based on the networks’ existing standards, resolve certain newsroom-management disputes and report to Paramount’s corporate board through its chief compliance officer. Media-law professor Jane Kirtley questioned its independence because the company’s directors appoint members; press-freedom advocate Seth Stern warned that harm could occur before it is established.
Other safeguards: Paramount must appoint an internal compliance monitor within 21 days of closing; the company and a committee representing the states will jointly select an independent monitoring trustee within 90 days of closing. The settlement excludes the board from that trustee’s review. The Ellison family and RedBird will hold all voting shares; funds tied to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Abu Dhabi are set to contribute $24 billion and hold 38.5% of the combined company’s non-voting equity. The FCC bars those investors from influencing content or management.
