Former CBS anchor fears network will lose independence after media merger

Former CBS anchor Connie Chung warned on CNN Friday that the recent merger between Paramount Global and Skydance Media could be the “end” of journalism as she once knew it.

The FCC announced it approved an $8 billion merger between the two companies on Thursday with the deal set to close on August 7. This came after several controversies involving CBS, which Paramount owns, such as a lawsuit settlement with President Donald Trump over a “60 Minutes” segment and canceling “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.”

Based on the newly formed company Paramount Skydance Corp., the former “CBS Evening News” anchor suggested the network she was a part of could lose all of its independence.

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“I fear the end of CBS as I knew it,” Chung said on “CNN News Central.” “CBS was always a standalone network. It was autonomous. The news division was autonomous, and it was always unencumbered by pressures from politicians, including presidents, and unencumbered by bean counters. But now? I can see very clearly that the days that I remembered are long gone.”

She continued, “Honest, unbiased, fact-based journalism is being tainted and those who practiced that journalism, like Edward R. Murrow and Walter Cronkite, that kind of journalism has disappeared. I also fear that gone are the days of Frank Stanton, who was the president of CBS, who defended the rights of the journalism, the First Amendment, the fourth estate before Congress, and he represented all journalists in many ways.”

Chung placed more blame on Paramount’s controlling shareholder Shari Redstone and Skydance Media CEO David Ellison for having “tainted journalism” with their “greed.” She also called out company’s pledge to not implement any new DEI initiatives as an insult to her and other women and minorities at CBS.

Several journalists have accused CBS and Paramount of acquiescing to Trump ahead of the merger through its settlement and cancellations, including Chung.

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“I have difficulty believing what they claim, which is that the ‘60 Minutes’ agreement had nothing to do with the merger, or a settlement had nothing to do with the merger, and also that the disappearance of Steve [sic] Colbert had nothing to do — it had only to do with financial issues. It all smells,” Chung said.

Paramount has been facing an intense backlash for its recent decisions, even from some of its own employees.

Veteran “60 Minutes” producer Rome Hartman told Fox News Digital earlier this month that he thought the company’s settlement with Trump was a “cowardly capitulation by the corporate leaders of Paramount” and a “fundamental betrayal” of CBS News. 

Senators Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. and Ron Wyden, D-Ore., also sent a letter to Ellison demanding answers about the Trump settlement and the Colbert cancellation, suggesting anti-bribery laws may have been broken in order for the merger to proceed with FCC approval. 

Fox News’ Joseph Wulfsohn and Brian Flood contributed to this report.