Meanwhile in the Halls of the 4th Estate

It appears that what used to be called the "Tiffany Network" is looking at capitulating to a bogus Trump lawsuit in order to bribe him to approve a merger with a company owned by one of Larry Ellison's kids.

Paramount Global executives have held internal discussions about settling a lawsuit filed by Donald Trump over a CBS News interview with Vice President Kamala Harris, according to people familiar with the situation, a sign of larger efforts to dial down tensions with the incoming president.

Paramount, owner of CBS, its namesake studio and several cable channels, has a major piece of business in front of the new administration: its planned merger with Skydance Media. It’s become clear to executives at both companies that Trump’s dissatisfaction with CBS News will make the review tougher than they anticipated, and that they’ll likely need to offer concessions to win approval, people familiar with the situation said.

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Trump’s lawsuit against CBS, which seeks $10 billion in damages, alleges that the network committed election interference by editing portions of an interview with Harris, favoring her campaign for president. Trump claimed CBS aired one version of the interview on “60 Minutes” and another version on its show “Face the Nation,” each containing different answers about Israel. CBS has said it aired a more succinct version of Harris’s interview on “60 Minutes.”

This is a bribe, and CBS executives know that it is a bribe, and they don't give a fuck.

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Skydance is run by David Ellison, the son of billionaire Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, who has a good relationship with Trump. Under the terms of the deal, Skydance and its investors agreed to spend more than $8 billion to acquire control of Paramount from media heiress Shari Redstone and merge it with Skydance. A person close to Skydance said David Ellison would support measures to promote unbiased journalism.

If you believe that, I have some swampland in Florida for you.

 https://www.theverge.com/2025/1/17/24346279/cbs-paramount-trump-merger-lawsuit