Paramount Settlement Clears Major Hurdle for Warner Deal

Paramount’s settlement with 12 state attorneys general has removed a major legal obstacle to its planned acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, while requiring editorial safeguards for CNN and CBS News. The transaction has not yet closed, and the settlement does not require Paramount to sell either network. The agreement calls for a five-member News Editorial Independence Board to monitor the networks’ adherence to journalistic standards and editorial independence, establish editorial principles and resolve certain disputes between newsroom employees and management. Members must be active or retired journalists with at least 10 years of experience. Paramount’s board will appoint them, and members may be removed only for good cause. The panel may not be established until 180 days after the acquisition closes. Other oversight measures have shorter deadlines: Paramount must appoint an internal compliance monitor within 21 days, and the company and a committee representing the states must jointly select a monitoring trustee within 90 days. The trustee’s authority excludes the section of the settlement establishing the editorial board.