Tag: David Bauder

Takeover bid of parent company means limbo for CNN and some fellow cable networks

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Paramount Skydance’s hostile takeover bid of Warner Bros. Discovery places CNN and its sister cable networks squarely back into what is likely to be an extended period of management limbo.

There was some relief at CNN with last Friday’s announcement that Netflix was buying Warner’s studio and streaming businesses, since the cable network would not be a part of that deal. But that quickly changed on Monday with Paramount’s announced bid, which includes the cable assets that Netflix doesn’t want and, if successful, opens the possibility of a combined CNN and CBS News.

The management uncertainty adds to what is already a challenging time at CNN, where there was no doubt who was in charge before swashbuckling founder Ted Turner sold his company in 1996. “That era might as well be the roaring ‘20s for how long ago it feels,” said Ross Benes, senior analyst at emarketer.com.

The dueling bids between Paramount and Netflix now “lead to more uncertainty and greater anxiety among the current CNN staff and among those of us who served for many years as leaders of CNN under Ted,” said Tom Johnson, former CNN president in the 1990s.

Paramount’s bid, which must be approved by shareholders and regulators, could be seen favorably by President Donald Trump, who is closely allied with Paramount Skydance chairman and CEO David Ellison as well as his father, Oracle founder Larry Ellison. But Trump has already expressed anger at the company on social media for Sunday’s “60 Minutes” report on former U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.

Prior to Friday’s announcement, Warner Bros. Discovery had said it planned to spin off its cable television networks including CNN, Discovery, HGTV, the Food Network and TLC, into a separate company. The growth of streaming has made cable networks an unattractive business.

CNN’s television ratings have tumbled to the extent that it is firmly the third-rated cable news network behind Fox News Channel and MS NOW, formerly MSNBC. Its CEO, Mark Thompson, has aggressively moved into digital with a new subscription service and said that management of Discovery Global, the spinoff company, has already approved a 2026 budget investing in the plan.

“I know this strategic review has been a period of inevitable uncertainty across CNN and indeed the whole of WBD,” Thompson told staff in a memo Friday. “Of course, I can’t promise you that the media attention and noise around the sale of our parent will die down overnight. But I do think the path to the successful transformation of this great news enterprise remains open.”

Thompson had no additional comment on Monday, a spokeswoman said.

Since Paramount’s takeover of CBS News this past summer, the network has taken steps to appeal to more conservative viewers with the installation of Free Press founder Bari Weiss as editor-in-chief. Weiss is moderating a prime-time discussion this weekend with Erika Kirk, widow of slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

During an appearance on CNBC Monday, Ellison answered, “yeah,” when asked if he would combine CNN’s newsgathering operation with CBS News. What exactly that means is unclear.

“We want to build a scaled news service that is basically, fundamentally, in the trust business, that is in the truth business, and that speaks to the 70% of Americans that are in the middle,” Ellison said.

Trump has spoken highly of both Ellison and his billionaire father. But he was clearly angry about Lesley Stahl’s “60 Minutes” interview with former MAGA supporter Greene, who broke with him and recently resigned from Congress. Trump said on Truth Social that his real problem with the show is that the new corporate ownership allowed it to air.

“THEY ARE NO BETTER THAN THE OLD OWNERSHIP,” Trump said, adding he believed that “60 Minutes” had gotten worse from his perspective since the changeover.

CNN is not likely to find out soon who its new owners would be. Even before the Paramount bid, experts had predicted the Netflix deal would face more than a year of regulatory hurdles.

“There is such a need for independent, unbiased news services,” Johnson said. “I so hope that the new CNN owners will see that as their fundamental mission.”

If Netflix eventually wins, emarketer.com’s Benes predicted it would be likely that the spinoff company, Discovery Global, would be shopped around to other buyers.

“CNN will be in limbo for a while no matter which bidder purchases CNN,” he said.

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David Bauder writes about the intersection of media and entertainment for the AP. Follow him at http://x.com/dbauder and https://bsky.app/profile/dbauder.bsky.social.

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December 9, 2025
How chummy is too chummy? Epstein emails shine light on relationships between journalists, sources

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The emails to and from Jeffrey Epstein released this week shine a light on the delicate relationship between reporters and their sources. And, as can be the case, bright light isn’t always flattering.

Messages between Epstein, the convicted sex offender who died by suicide in 2019, and journalists Michael Wolff and Landon Thomas Jr. are frequently chummy and, in one case, show Wolff giving Epstein advice on how to deal with the media —- a line journalists are taught not to cross. Wolff specializes in the “you are there” inside accounts that are possible with intensive reporting, though some of his work has been questioned.

People frequently see journalists in public settings, conducting an interview or asking questions at a news conference. Private phone calls, texts or messages — where reporters try to ingratiate themselves with sources who may not otherwise be inclined to give information — are inherently different. But ethical rules remain and are followed by most in American journalism.

Wolff’s advice came in a December 2015 exchange, where the writer said he heard CNN was going to ask then-presidential candidate Donald Trump about his relationship with Epstein. If we could craft an answer for him, Epstein wondered, what would it be?

“I think you should let him hang himself,” Wolff replied. “If he says he hasn’t been on the plane or to the house, then that gives you a valuable PR and political currency. You can hang him in a way that potentially generates a positive benefit for you, or, if it really looks like he could win, you could save him, generating a debt.”

Advice on media relations for convicted sex offender

The exchange left some experts aghast.

Independence is vital for a journalist, and Wolff compromised it, said Dan Kennedy, a media writer and professor at Northeastern University.

Kathleen Bartzen Culver’s voice rises in anger just contemplating the example. Culver, director of the Center for Journalism Ethics at the University of Wisconsin, said there are plenty of ethical issues to maneuver every day, like whether a reporter should give $20 after interviewing a poor person who lost benefits during the government shutdown.

“Giving PR advice to a convicted sex offender isn’t one of them,” she said.

Wolff, a two-time National Magazine Award winner, wrote books like “Fire and Fury,” about the opening days of the first Trump administration, and “The Man Who Owns the News,” a biography of Rupert Murdoch. “Historically, one of the problems with Wolff’s omniscience is that while he may know all, he gets some of it wrong,” the late David Carr of The New York Times wrote in a review of the Murdoch book.

Wolff, who did not immediately return a message from The Associated Press, admitted on the “Inside Trump’s Head” podcast that some of the email messages were embarrassing. But he said his knowledge of the media offers “the kind of cachet that gives me a place at the table, which has gotten me the Epstein story, if anybody wanted to pay attention.”

At one point in 2016, Wolff turns the table, seeking counsel from Epstein on what he should ask during an upcoming interview with Trump. That’s a legitimate journalistic exercise, part of the reporting that goes into preparing for an interview.

A 2016 exchange with Epstein mixed a plea for an interview with some advice: “There’s an opportunity to come forward this week and talk about Trump in such a way that could garner you great sympathy and help finish him off. Interested?”

Wolff said on the podcast that part of his role is “play-acting” to get sources to reveal things they would not tell other people. And he took on his critics.

“These are not people that have written the kind of books that I have written,” he said, “and I often make the distinction between journalists who do what they do — daily reporters working for organizations, working within a very prescribed set of rules — and what I do. I’m a writer who manages to make relationships that let me tell a story in the ways that The New York Times or other very reputable journalistic organizations are unable to tell.”

Author Michael Wolff discusses his latest book on March 14, 2025, in New York. (Photo by CJ Rivera/Invision/AP, File)

A distinction that not every reader makes

Not everyone sees the difference when considering works of nonfiction. Culver cited journalism that took courage and skill to report and said, “I find it heartbreaking when that kind of work is sullied by this kind of garbage.”

Should a journalist act differently in public or private? They’re not supposed to. That explains why Connie Chung had a hard time living down her 1995 exchange with then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich’s mother. Gingrich initially ducked when Chung asked how her son felt about Hillary Clinton until Chung asked — on camera — “why don’t you just whisper it to me — just between you and me.”

Many of the exchanges between Epstein and the journalists are chatty, gossipy — seemingly harmless, yet not the sort of things one would like to see published years later. Northeastern’s Kennedy read some of the emails between Wolff and Epstein and said “it just seemed like kibbitzing with a child molester for no apparent purpose.”

In one email conversation, the former New York Times reporter Thomas mentions that he’s been getting calls from another journalist who is writing a book on Epstein. “He seems very interested in your relationship with the news media,” Thomas wrote. “I told him you were a hell of a guy :).”

Thomas also didn’t hide his feelings about Trump in one conversation — a personal opinion that most reporters learn to keep to themselves. “I am getting worried,” Thomas wrote in July 2016. “Is he ever going to implode?”

Relations between journalist and source: Step carefully

Journalists should take care to maintain boundaries, especially when dealing with people who are inexperienced with the media. There’s admittedly a fine line: A reporter needs a source’s trust, but it’s a form of deception if a source begins to think of the journalist as a friend who would never betray them.

People most commonly think of politics when considering bias in journalism. More frequently, bias shows up in relationships, whether a reporter likes or dislikes someone they are dealing with, Culver said.

“I advise my students to be human with their sources,” she said. “Not to be friendly or sweet, but to come at it with respect and understanding.”

Thomas stopped working at The Times in 2019 after editors discovered a violation of its ethical standards. National Public Radio reported that Thomas had solicited a $30,000 contribution from Epstein for a charity the journalist supported.

In one exchange that was widely noticed online, Epstein asked Thomas in 2015 if he would like photos of Trump and girls in bikinis taken in his kitchen. “Yes!!!” the reporter replied.

But The Times said no such photos were forthcoming.

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David Bauder writes about the intersection of media and entertainment for the AP. Follow him at http://x.com/dbauder and https://bsky.app/profile/dbauder.bsky.socia l

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November 15, 2025
MSNBC’s name is being replaced, but its leaders insist that its mission will remain the same

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NEW YORK (AP) — Asked what viewers should expect when television’s MSNBC makes its corporate divorce from NBC News official this weekend, network president Rebecca Kutler points to a poster on the wall of a conference room at its new offices off Times Square.

Its message reads: “Same Mission. New Name.”

“To me, that encapsulates exactly what we need to be saying,” Kutler said. “Our job in the next few weeks is to flood the zone … and make sure they know the thing that they love will be the exact same thing on Nov. 15.”

Saturday is when MSNBC officially becomes MS NOW, standing for My Source for News, Opinion and the World. That’s the most visible manifestation of parent company Comcast’s decision to spin off most of its cable networks into a new company known as Versant.

It’s tough enough when one partner tells another that they’re leaving for someone new. In this case, they’re just leaving the partner behind; a cable television network is considered such a diminishing asset in today’s media world that giant companies would rather be free of them.

“A lot of us really didn’t know what it meant,” said prime-time host Jen Psaki, “and it didn’t feel great initially.”

Embracing the ethos of a startup

Left on its own, MS NOW is embracing the ethos of a startup, suggesting it will be better positioned to experiment without ties to the more corporate NBC News. “Morning Joe” is starting its own newsletter. Podcast ideas are encouraged. The network is expanding live events, letting its television stars interact with the audience; Rachel Maddow has one in Chicago later this month.

“I didn’t see this as a divorce,” said nighttime host Michael Steele. “I see this as the kid growing up and leaving home. We all know what that’s like.”

As Kutler says, the network’s focus on news and commentary with a liberal perspective remains intact. So does its lineup of stars — Maddow, Nicolle Wallace, Ari Melber and the like. MS NOW has built its own reporting and support staff, and is moving into a new headquarters west of Broadway in Manhattan that is, not incidentally, the former longtime headquarters of The New York Times.

The new office, tricked out with the latest electronics, ends one geographical oddity: No longer are the political polar opposites MSNBC and Fox News Channel located across Sixth Avenue from one another.

The MS NOW news staff has about three dozen reporters, among them Washington Post alums Jackie Alemany and Carol Leonnig. It has signed partnerships with Sky News for international reporting and AccuWeather for forecasting.

“Being divorced from NBC News gives it the opportunity to make deals on its own to supplement its cable existence,” said longtime broadcast and cable news executive Kate O’Brian, who spent several years at ABC. They have a strong identity and a built-in audience of people who oppose President Donald Trump, she said.

“They’re lean, nimble and niche, putting them in a better position to adapt to any emergent platforms,” O’Brian said.

MS NOW is leaner in audience than MSNBC was a year ago. The network’s prime-time weekday average of 1.17 million viewers this year is down 29% from 2024 — a number linked in large part to its viewers’ disappointment at the presidential election results. Fox News Channel, popular with Trump supporters, is up 14% to 3.11 million viewers.

Yet MSNBC has roughly twice the audience of CNN, which saw an identical 29% decrease in viewers over the first nine months of 2025. MSNBC was also buoyed by a strong election night performance where it ran neck-and-neck with Fox, even while missing the khaki-clad numbers nerd, Steve Kornacki, who chose to remain with NBC News.

MS NOW’s freedom appealed to reporters Jacob Soboroff, who chose it over NBC News, and Rosa Flores, who said she is joining the newly-named network from CNN primarily because she sees the opportunity to do a greater variety of things beyond the immigration beat she’d been covering.

“All the legacy news organizations are trying to make their way,” Flores said. “I felt like being part of a news organization that was building solutions from the ground up was so unique that I wanted to be a part of it.”

Being part of a news operation with a clear political identity was not a barrier for Soboroff. “It’s about the people for me, always, it’s not about the politics,” he said. “I feel like I do what I’ve always done, which is report the facts on the ground, turn them around to our audience and let the audience make up their own minds about what they think.”

Cleaning out the office at Rockefeller Center

The company is spending a reported $20 million on a marketing campaign designed to publicize the changeover, which will include billboards in Times Square, the Grove in Los Angeles and the South Capitol Digital Experience Wall in Washington, D.C.

Far cheaper is the mug with MSNBC crossed out and replaced by MS NOW on the set of “Morning Joe.” Co-host Mika Brzezinski recently cleared out her Rockefeller Center office and reminisced about times that NBC’s Richard Engel and Keir Simmons appeared on their show. “We’re going to miss some reporters,” she said, “and they’re going to miss us.”

With a rapidly evolving media landscape, success or failure will ultimately be decided by who has the content people most want to see, said her co-host and husband, Joe Scarborough.

“If this were five years ago, I would have been, ‘Oh, my God, how are we going to do this?’” he said. “Everything is so fluid now.”

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David Bauder writes about the intersection of media and entertainment for the AP. Follow him at http://x.com/dbauder and https://bsky.app/profile/dbauder.bsky.social

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November 13, 2025