Skydance is acquiring Paramount Global and all its subsidiaries, including CBS News. The Federal Communications Commission was involved because it licenses CBS's use of the public airwaves. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said in a press release that Skydance is committed to making "significant changes" at CBS:
"Skydance has made written commitments to ensure that the new company's programming embodies a diversity of viewpoints from across the political and ideological spectrum," Carr stated. "Skydance will also adopt measures that can root out the bias that has undermined trust in the national news media.
"These commitments, if implemented, would enable CBS to operate in the public interest and focus on fair, unbiased, and fact-based coverage."
Tim Graham of Media Research Center says the inference must be a bitter pill for CBS to swallow. "It is nice to have the FCC saying these things, but you know the networks absolutely hate it," he tells AFN.
Included in Skydance's plan to earn back Americans' trust is a commitment to have in place – for at least two years – an ombudsman who will evaluate and report on complaints of bias. Graham has a simple solution to the bias at CBS.
"The obvious solution is [to] hire some Republicans. Do a little affirmative action hiring," the MRC spokesman suggests. "Even making it 87 to 5 [liberal vs. conservative employees] would give you a newsroom where somebody's going to actually say, 'I think you're overwrought when you compare Trump to Hitler.'"
According to Carr's press release, Skydance currently has no diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs in place – and has vowed it will not establish any such initiatives and will abide with current EEOC and nondiscrimination laws.
CBS was forced to pay President Trump a $16 million settlement over a "60 Minutes" editing controversy. The network also announced the end of "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" in about a year. Liberal groups are howling, saying the pending merger amounts to censorship. That's nonsense, says Graham.
"There's constant dissent against Trump everywhere," he contends. "They get upset when you cancel 'Colbert' and there's 'South Park' around the corner. Trump's always going to be attacked."
Despite liberals' warnings to the contrary about censorship, Graham says "we're not in danger of losing our democracy."
More from FCC's Carr
Speaking Monday on American Family Radio, Brendan Carr explained that going forward, objective journalism will be a requirement for news networks that use the public airwaves.
"There will be mechanisms by which the FCC could potentially take action if they don't live up to their commitments. We're taking up a 'trust but verify' approach right now," he said.
As for CBS News losing the public's trust? "Frankly, I think Colbert leaving 'The Late Show' is a consequence that flows from President Trump calling out these traditional corporations," said the FCC chair.
Editor's note: Carr's comments from AFR interview added after story was originally published.
