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David Ellison, CEO of Skydance Media, denied politicizing his company during a press briefing about the merger between Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros Discovery. He maintained that Skydance has had good relationships with both President Biden and former President Trump while emphasizing the importance of editorial independence for CNN and CBS News. Despite concerns over potential political influence on these networks, Ellison assured reporters that both news organizations will operate independently in terms of editorial content.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-07,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
David Ellison, CEO of Skydance Media, denied politicizing his company despite its close ties with former President Donald Trump's administration over 20 months. During a press briefing on the merger between Paramount Skydance and CNN parent Warner Bros Discovery, Ellison assured reporters that both CNN and CBS News would maintain complete editorial independence. He emphasized building relationships with various political figures, including having good ties with both former President Biden and Senator Tim Scott. When questioned about discussions with Trump regarding CNN, Ellison clarified they had not talked to any political leader from either party about influencing the news network's editorial stance.
Written for “David Ellison Skydance Controversy” on 2026-10-07,
grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The model judged this article politically coded and scored it -0.25, but all 2 of its quote(s) are attributed speech - words the article quotes from someone, not the article's own narration, so the score is not published.
Written under an earlier scoring contract, which gave a paragraph
rather than checkable quotes. Re-analysing this article replaces it.
Leaning score withheld for article 61614: attributed speech only · logged 2026-10-07
David Ellison, the chief executive of the newly formed media conglomerate Skydance, denied that he has “politicized” the company despite the close connection he has forged with Donald Trump’s White House over the 20 months of his administration.
asserted
he → form → administration
“We have a good relationship with this administration,” Ellison acknowledged to reporters at a Tuesday press briefing focused on the now-consummated merger of Paramount Skydance and CNN parent company Warner Bros Discovery.
asserted
Ellison → have → Skydance
“I also had a really good relationship with President Biden.
asserted
I → have → Biden
I have a good relationship with [Republican South Carolina senator] Tim Scott, and I have a good relationship with Governor Gavin Newsom.
asserted
I → have → Newsom
I think it is important to talk to everybody on both sides of the aisle …
asserted
it → think → aisle
When you’re operating within a business-friendly administration, you should always have those relationships.”
asserted
you → operate → relationships
“We want to speak to everybody,” Ellison added.
asserted
Ellison → want → everybody
“We do not want to politicize the company.”
asserted
We → want → company
Asked about his conversations with Trump about CNN, Ellison did not directly discuss his communications with the president, the network’s most prominent critic.
asserted
Ellison → ask → president
But he said he wanted to clarify that “we have not talked to any political leader of any party about news, other than to say that we want to be in the truth business and we want to be in the trust business.
asserted
we → say → business
And we believe in complete editorial independence.”
asserted
we → believe → independence
Amid concerns about whether Ellison might move CNN in a more rightward editorial direction, he said that both the cable news network and CBS News would be “completely editorially independent”, echoing a message he delivered earlier in the day during a town hall meeting with company employees.
uncertain
he → move → employees
Ellison also gave an endorsement to the two leaders he has tapped to continue running the two news networks networks he now controls, CNN chief executive Mark Thompson and CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss.
asserted
he → give → chief
On Monday, Thompson told staffers in a memo that he would remain at the merged company, while Skydance also confirmed that Weiss would remain in her role.
asserted
Weiss → tell → role
“We’re thrilled, obviously, with Mark,” Ellison said.
asserted
Ellison → ’re → Mark
“We’re thrilled with Bari.”
asserted
We → ’re → Bari
Asked about a potential merging of CBS News and CNN and any cuts – or “synergies” – that might stem from that, Ellison said he and his leadership team would spend the next several months “basically getting under the hood on all of that”.
uncertain
he → ask → that
Most of the $6bn in expected savings from the merger would not come from job losses, he said.
asserted
he → expect → losses
Ellison was not asked about Weiss’s performance as the editorial leader of CBS News.
asserted
Ellison → ask → News
When asked specifically about Weiss’s performance by a Guardian reporter in June, Ellison ignored the question.
asserted
Ellison → ask → question
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