CNN journalist jumps ship to MS NOW over fears of new leadership after merger: report
Variety reported that CNN legal journalist Paula Reid is leaving out of concern over Paramount CEO David Ellison taking over the network after a merger.
CNN journalist Paula Reid is leaving the network for MS NOW out of concerns over Paramount Skydance's acquisition of the network, according to a Variety report Wednesday.
"Reid turned down a chance to renew her current contract at CNN, according to two people familiar with the situation, in part because CNN’s next era appears chaotic," Variety reported.
The article noted that Reid's decision allegedly came because of concerns over Paramount CEO David Ellison taking over the network and potentially installing CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss as head of CNN.
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"Paramount has made some indications that it sees Bari Weiss, the editor in chief of CBS News who has generated several public controversies, as the next steward of CNN," Variety reported.
Reid initially joined CNN in 2021 after previously working as a White House correspondent for CBS News.
Neither MS NOW nor CNN confirmed the news to Fox News Digital.
"As a general matter of practice, we don’t comment on personnel matters," an MS NOW spokesperson said in a statement. "As everyone in Washington knows, Paula Reid is an exceptional reporter, and any news organization would be fortunate to showcase her journalism."
CNN declined to comment.
A Fox News Digital report in February found that the mood inside CNN was "horrific" as parent company Warner Bros. Discovery prepared to sell all of its assets to Paramount. In the report, a CNN insider suggested the possibility of talent fleeing CNN ahead of the Ellison takeover if they can afford it.
A second insider said the two main concerns are "job loss" and "editorial indifference," noting the former "greatly outranks" the latter. Specifically, CNN staffers worried about a potential "bloodbath" if CBS News and CNN were to merge.
Other CNN personalities have also publicly denounced the merger. CNN journalist Kara Swisher previously vowed to leave the network if Ellison took charge in March.
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Veteran CNN journalist Christiane Amanpour described feeling "concerned" over new leadership in May, pointing to past issues regarding CBS News' "60 Minutes" anchors.
"I’m concerned based on what’s happened to the other things that he’s taken over already, like CBS News, right?" Amanpour said. "I mean, do I have to list what’s happening there? I mean, hemorrhaging viewers, probably hemorrhaging money, this ideological realignment of CBS and the destruction, potentially, of ‘60 Minutes.’"
