John,
If Paramount Skydance is allowed to swallow up Warner Bros. Discovery, it’s not just another bad deal for consumers. Because these media giants control so much of our news and entertainment, this merger actually threatens our ability to access knowledge and information about the world. Imagine a world with no Stephen Colberts.
A healthy democracy depends on a wide range of perspectives. But when so many major outlets are concentrated under one corporate roof, diverse viewpoints vanish, independence erodes, and the flow of information tilts toward corporate and political interests instead of the public’s right to know.
This merger would hand control of CNN, CBS News, HBO, MTV, Comedy Central, BET, HGTV, TNT, and more to the same executives who have already silenced critical voices in the past. How can journalists hold the powerful accountable when their employers are beholden to the very forces they should be investigating?
If consolidation continues unchecked, our currently “free” press will become little more than a corporate mouthpiece -- and our democracy will be the weaker for it.
Tell the FCC and Department of Justice: launch a full antitrust review of the Paramount -- Skydance -- WB Discovery merger. Block it outright, or impose the strongest possible safeguards against corporate control of the press.
A healthy democracy cannot be fed by a narrow information pipeline. When so much of the media is concentrated in just a few sets of hands, the truth is easily manipulated or hidden and the people remain in the dark -- possibly never realizing what truths are buried or simply left unearthed.
Our democracy depends on many voices, not one. Regulators must guarantee newsroom independence, editorial autonomy, and protections for investigative and local reporting. Without that, this merger will push us further toward a media system where profit and political influence drown out truth and accountability.
Add your name: Demand that the FCC and DOJ defend press freedom and stop dangerous media consolidation.
Thank you for insisting that the American news and entertainment media must serve the people, not just a megalopoly of narrow corporate interests.
-DFA AF Team
