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2 March 2026 (Barcelona, Spain) - A few thoughts from the Poynter Media breakfast this morning.
As one Poynter Media representative noted, at some point overnight Friday into Saturday, while battling insomnia, he was catching up on some programs he had recently recorded. When he was done and about to head to bed, he went back to cable and came across a startling overnight breaking news alert: The United States and Israel had launched coordinated attacks on Iran.
As he does in any breaking news story, he immediately turned to CNN.
Every major TV news organization — including ABC, CBS, NBC, MS NOW and Fox News — has dedicated all of its resources to covering this huge story. And all of them have done an admirable job, calling out their top reporters and anchors and having special programming to pass along vital information.
Yet, it is moments like these when CNN especially shines. We find ourselves, time and time again, locking in on CNN’s coverage. On Saturday, as often happens when there is major breaking news, there is something reassuring about turning over to CNN and hearing some calm reporters anchoring the coverage.
In addition, reporters such as CNN’s Clarissa Ward (pictured above) offer information like few others. She really does her homework.
Over the weekend, Ward said on air, “The entire region is now on a knife’s edge with no off-ramp in sight and many more questions than there are answers. At this stage, we don’t have a good picture of who is now in charge in Iran. What will Iran’s next move be? Is there any possibility to now de-escalate this situation?” She then went into copious details based on her interviewing of key players.
Much of Ward’s information was based on actual reporting — talking to sources, being familiar with the area, and having the experience of past conflict coverage.
Throughout the weekend, CNN’s coverage was mesmerizing.
And important.
As someone who writes about the media and has a special interest in it, I couldn’t help but wonder what CNN will look and sound like when, eventually, it will come under the control of Paramount, with CEO David Ellison, and, perhaps, CBS News, with editor-in-chief Bari Weiss?
The stunning news late last week that Paramount has swooped in to likely take control of Warner Bros. Discovery, including CNN, has many at the news network wondering: What is next?
CNN media reporter Brian Stelter wrote Friday, “Paramount executives have privately expressed admiration for CNN's news gathering machine and global reach. They have also talked about the prospect of combining CBS News with CNN, though that's a lot easier said than done, and is not imminent.”
But . . . there’s the overriding relationship between Ellison and President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly criticized CNN and said back in December, “It’s imperative that CNN be sold.”
In fact, back in December, The Wall Street Journal wrote, “During a visit to Washington in recent days, David Ellison offered assurances to Trump administration officials that if he bought Warner, he’d make sweeping changes to CNN, a common target of President Trump’s ire, people familiar with the matter said. Trump has told people close to him that he wants new ownership of CNN as well as changes to CNN programming.”
Partly for that reason, Stelter wrote, “So CNN employees and viewers have serious concerns about whether Ellison will uphold the news network's editorial independence amid severe political turbulence.”
In his Status media newsletter, Oliver Darcy, a former CNN staffer, wrote right after Thursday’s Warner Bros. Discovery news broke, “Inside CNN, alarm bells went off as staffers began to panic over the suddenly very real prospect that they could be working for Bari Weiss before the end of the year. Within minutes of the news crossing the wire, my phone lit up with messages from anxious employees fretting about the future.”
One insider told Darcy, “The panic at CNN right now is off the charts.”
Understandably so.
NBC News’ Chloe Melas and Allie Canal wrote that one CNN journalist told them they believed some staffers would leave CNN if faced with the prospect of working for David Ellison or Weiss. That person told them, “No one wants to work for the Ellisons. And if Bari is going to be running CNN, expect people to leave. All the triple AAA talent left CBS. The same will be true of CNN”.
Viewers should be concerned, too. Despite many criticisms, CNN continues to be a leader in national and international news and, with all due respect to the other networks, no network is better and more equipped to cover huge stories like Iran.
I’ll get back to the Warner Bros. Discovery sale in a longer post. But I need to get back to the conference.
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