Could Paramount acquisition of CNN shift coverage of Israel?

A vote later this month could put CBS and CNN, two of the leading US news networks, under the umbrella of two Jewish business leaders with long ties to Israel, Larry and David Ellison.

Shareholders of Warner Bros. Discovery, a major US media company that owns CNN, will vote on April 23 on an acquisition by David Ellison’s Paramount Skydance, CBS’s parent company.

The potential acquisition is part of a series of moves by Larry Ellison and his son David, part of an expanding media empire that has alarmed liberal newsrooms, White House critics and anti-Zionist activists.

In August 2025, David Ellison’s Skydance media firm closed a merger with Paramount, a major entertainment company that owns CBS, one of the top US news networks.

In October, Paramount acquired The Free Press, a news outlet founded by the Jewish journalist Bari Weiss, for a reported $150 million. The Free Press presents itself as a centrist alternative to the liberal-leaning mainstream media. The outlet has been critical of the media’s Israel coverage and often reports on antisemitism. Weiss was appointed the editor-in-chief of CBS News.

Last month, the combined Paramount Skydance announced a merger agreement to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery, a leading media conglomerate, for a reported $110 billion. Warner Bros. is the parent company of CNN.

Warner Bros. Discovery said last week that it will vote on the agreement during a shareholder meeting on April 23. The California attorney general and the US Department of Justice are reviewing the deal over antitrust concerns.

If approved, the acquisition will put two of the leading US news networks under the same umbrella, along with Paramount Skydance’s Nickelodeon, MTV, BET, Comedy Central and Showtime, and a host of Warner Bros. properties, including HBO, discovery+, the Food Network and the Travel Channel.

Larry Ellison’s Oracle, one of the world’s largest technology firms, also owns a significant stake in TikTok’s US business operations. American Jewish leaders have blamed TikTok for allowing antisemitism to spread among young people.

If this month’s Warner Bros. Discovery acquisition goes through, the deal will put a swath of the US media landscape, spanning CNN and CBS to social media, the Harry Potter franchise and the Mission Impossible series, under the corporate control of Ellison-backed companies.

Long ties to Israel

Critics view the Ellisons as more conservative and friendly to the Trump administration and Israel than many legacy media outlets. The acquisitions have drawn criticism from groups like the Freedom of the Press Foundation.

Anti-Zionist activists have condemned the acquisitions using explicitly antisemitic language, including at a New York City protest this month.

On the other side, Trump has been harshly critical of coverage at CNN and backed the Ellisons, and US Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth has supported the CNN acquisition.

Larry Ellison, who was raised in a Reform household, is a longtime supporter of Jewish and Israeli causes. Ellison is the world’s wealthiest Jewish individual and one of the richest people alive, briefly surpassing Tesla CEO Elon Musk last year.

He has a record of pro-Israel philanthropy and ties to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Oracle has also had business ties in Israel for more than 20 years. The company has hundreds of employees in Israel, built an underground data center in Jerusalem for $319 million in 2021, and supported Israeli first responders with fundraising after the October 7, 2023, Hamas invasion.

David Ellison’s Skydance also donated to Magen David Adom after October 7. “Skydance stands with Israel,” the company said at the time.

Paramount condemned a Hollywood boycott of Israel last year, becoming the first major studio to push back, saying, “Silencing individual creative artists based on their nationality does not promote better understanding or advance the cause of peace.”

Paramount has distributed several series or films related to the October 7 attack, including “The Children of October 7,” “We Will Dance Again” and “Red Alert,” despite opposition to Israel in Hollywood.

Will CNN acquisition impact Israel coverage?

David Ellison told CNN this month that, if the acquisition is completed, journalists’ independence “needs to be maintained,” stating that at CBS, reporters have also retained their editorial independence. Weiss has also denied any editorial bent.

He has also said that coverage should be aimed at centrist Americans, a position also favored by Weiss.

“Who we want to talk to is the 70% of Americans — and really around the world — that identify as center left, as center right,” David Ellison told CNN. It’s unclear how much the deal is motivated by ideology or by business interests.

CBS has continued to publish articles critical of Israel since Weiss stepped in, drawing criticism from the media watchdog group CAMERA for inaccuracies.

Jacki Alexander, the head of HonestReporting, a nonprofit that monitors media for anti-Israel bias, said CBS had not significantly changed its coverage of Israel since Weiss became its editor in chief.

HonestReporting uses an AI tool, set up in 2024, that analyzes the media for bias against Israel, giving the group two years of data from before and since Weiss’s move.

From June 2025 to March 2026, before Weiss’s entrance and after, 2,629 CBS articles analyzed by the AI tool were “a mixture of neutral to mildly pro-Israel to mildly anti-Israel,” Alexander said.

“It seems to be event-driven as opposed to an editorial bent that’s changing,” Alexander said. CBS’s coverage was swayed by events such as a CBS cameraman killed in Gaza, for example.

During the same time period, in some 3,600 articles, CNN was more biased against Israel, according to HonestReporting’s algorithm. The difference is partly due to Fareed Zakaria, a prominent critic of Israel at CNN, and the network’s investigative unit, which often reports on Israel, Alexander said.

Weiss is facing opposition from staff and may need longer to effect any changes, Alexander said.

“I don’t think that anyone benefits, including those of us who are pro-Israel, from there being any sort of drastic or dramatic change, because then you lose the appearance or validity of being a legitimate news organization,” she said, suggesting a “slow and steady” approach would be more effective by building loyalty in the newsroom “then bringing your audience along with you.”

Alexander doubted that Ellison or a new CNN chief could “come in and say, ‘You’re not going to be reporting on this,’” but could effect changes by setting standards and through hiring decisions.

Agencies and TOI Staff contributed to this report.