Skydance Media, the production company set to take over Paramount after its $8.4 billion merger with CBS, has promised to review “complaints of bias” at CBS News and eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies. The pledge comes amid investigations by President Donald Trump’s FCC into media conglomerates over their DEI hiring and editorial initiatives.
In letters to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, Skydance’s general counsel Kyoko McKinnon stated that the company would hire an ombudsman for at least two years to evaluate complaints of bias or other concerns involving CBS News. The person in charge would report directly to the president of the new Paramount and “receive and evaluate any complaints” before they were considered by executive leadership.
The promise is a response to Trump’s executive orders calling for the eradication of DEI policies, as well as his FCC chief’s vow to block media mergers and acquisitions if companies involved have diversity policies in place. The pledge also comes weeks after Paramount settled a lawsuit brought by Trump alleging “election interference” due to the editing of a 60 Minutes interview with Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris.
Paramount has denied knowledge of a supposed backdoor arrangement with Trump, which some liberal senators are investigating. However, the company has agreed to eliminate DEI policies and implement a system for reviewing complaints of bias at CBS News.
Source: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/skydance-paramount-cbs-trump-dei-bias-b2794797.html