What’s Left Of CBS Just Can’t Stop Kissing Donald Trump’s Ass
Let’s be clear: CBS/Paramount, like many corporate U.S. media outlets, initially responded to the threat of authoritarian rule by kissing Republican ass in a bid to curry favor. CBS management has long made it clear that access and ad engagement are significantly more important than the truth. But the company’s looming acquisition by Skydance has taken existing fecklessness to the next level.
It’s looking increasingly likely that CBS/Paramount executives are going to give Donald Trump a huge pile of money to not only gain FCC approval of their $8 billion merger with Skydance, but to settle Trump’s completely bogus lawsuit(s) trying to bully the company away from doing basic journalism.
There’s even some reporting from the right wing NY Post (for whatever that’s worth) claiming that CBS/Paramount executives are considering promising Trump that they’ll run free “public service announcements” (read: pro-Trump, right wing propaganda ads) to finalize the settlement:
“A proposal to break the legal quagmire between CBS News parent Paramount and President Trump involves the Tiffany Network running millions of dollars in public service ads for causes that appeal to the administration, On The Money has learned.”
Pathetic. CBS majority owner Shari Redstone just wants to get out of the media business. The guys looking to buy CBS, most notably Larry Ellison’s son David, have been kissing Trump’s ass on the daily. There’s every indication that once CBS is acquired, they’re going to push the already fairly pathetic media arm of the company further to the right, a la Washington Post or the LA Times.
Kissing Republican ass and telling weird right wing zealots what they want to hear is where all the money is. Telling people the truth risks upsetting governments, advertisers, and billionaire ownership. It also likely results in a loss of broader advertising engagement and makes it less likely you’ll be invited to the next White House Christmas party.
As a result, all the journalists and executives left at CBS with any integrity are jumping ship. Curiously, state senators in California are launching an “investigation” into whether any part of this bizarre bribery scheme violates any state laws against bribery and unfair competition. Semafor, in typical “both sides” fashion, frames this all as a difference of bipartisan opinion:
“The settlement talks have infuriated many staff members at CBS as well as many national Democrats who believe that Paramount is caving to pressure from Trump to settle a frivolous lawsuit.”
CBS/Paramount absolutely is caving to pressure from Trump to settle a frivolous lawsuit. It’s not an opinion. They’re not being subtle about it. The Trump administration is abusing government power and trampling the constitution in order to bully the U.S. press into feckless compliance. And it’s working. Whether a California Senate inquiry will hold anybody accountable for it is another matter entirely.
This is all the culmination of decades of U.S. failures on media policy and antitrust reform. Historically bipartisan “U.S. media policy” has involved rubber stamping problematic media mergers, allowing the ad-based modern media to turn into a monolithic, ad-engagement chasing dumpster fire jam-packed with propaganda and corporatist infotainment, all managed by some of the least competent people imaginable. We spent decades paying empty lip service to real journalism, and the check is due.
The end result has been positively fatal for U.S. journalism, collective consensus, an educated public, and an informed electorate.
The only real way out of this mess is for CBS executives to find a backbone, cancel the merger, and tell the Trump administration and Brendan Carr to go fuck themselves. They can afford the fight, and they’d have plenty of support. But because that would be a bigger, more expensive hassle than throwing independent journalism and ethics in the toilet, it’s very clear which direction CBS is ultimately headed.