Letter to Shari Redstone: You're Conflating the Antisemitism Fight With Press Freedom, and You Will Lose Both

Yahoo

24-04-2025

There is nothing more important to Shari Redstone at this moment in time than her fight against rising antisemitism. I know because she's told me. I know because she said so just this week.
'I've been fighting racism and antisemitism for a long time, but after Oct. 7, it became my life,' the executive chairwoman of Paramount Global said at a screening for a heart-rending new documentary, 'Children of October 7,' airing on Paramount+ and one of her networks, MTV. 'It became the most important thing that I can do with my time — that I can teach my children, that I can bring people together to not just watch this movie but to share this with people they know, to tell the truth, to tell the stories.'
Noble words. Noble intentions. But if Redstone is not careful, her efforts will backfire. She will fail both at combating antisemitism and at preserving the credibility of her CBS News division.
She's already done significant harm. What many who are angry with Redstone in the wake of '60 Minutes'' chief Bill Owen's resignation this week do not understand is that her frustration and alleged 'interference' in CBS News is rooted less in a knee-jerk response to Donald Trump's naked bullying and more in her concern over coverage of Israel and antisemitism.
Redstone broke with her news division last fall, when CBS Mornings co-host Tony Dokoupil was disciplined for asking pointed questions of Ta-Nehisi Coates over his new book about the Israel-Palestine conflict. The Black intellectual admitted that he was not interested in exploring the Israeli side of the conflict, but felt Palestinians were treated like Black Americans under Jim Crow; Dokoupil said his views 'would not be out of place in the backpack of an extremist.'
After internal criticism of Dokoupil, a CBS News review of the interview found that it 'failed to meet the organization's editorial standards,' as TheWrap then reported, wagging a finger over the journalist's questioning without saying precisely what was wrong with it. 'We will still hold people accountable. But we will do so objectively, which means checking our biases and opinions at the door,' said CBS News executive Adrienne Roark in her statement to the staff. The implication was that Dokoupil was biased.
In a rare move two days later, Redstone broke publicly with her news team to disagree. 'I think they made a mistake here,' she said. 'I frankly think Tony did a great job with that interview.' And she added that Paramount's three co-CEOs agreed with her: 'I think we all agree that this was not handled correctly and we all agree that something needs to be done.'
Something was done, after another bump over Israel in January. '60 Minutes' aired a segment about Gaza in which former State Department officials discussed the Biden administration's support for Israel's push against Hamas. The segment was accused of failing to point out the terrorist nature of Hamas; the Anti-Defamation League's CEO Jonathan Greenblatt called the segment 'a biased and one-sided piece.'
The blowback came as Redstone was on a plane on her way back from Israel. Within 48 hours co-CEO George Cheeks had placed former CBS News President Susan Zirinsky as a new 'executive editor,' overseeing standards and journalistic practices, reviewing 'highly complex, sensitive issues like the war in the Middle East,' as Cheeks said in a memo sent to CBS News staffers.
Roark, meanwhile, exited the company in February.
In the midst of all this hangs the deal for Redstone to sell Paramount Global to Skydance, backed by billionaire Larry Ellison, which has been pending federal approval since last July. Since winning the election, Trump has determined to bring the media to heel, and took aim at the biggest broadcast target with the most exquisite point of vulnerability: CBS News.
He sued for $10 billion, and then upped it to $20 billion, over an absurd allegation that CBS had deceptively edited an interview with then-candidate Kamala Harris. The lawsuit, as everyone who knows anything about fair news practices and the mechanics of TV news recognizes, is nonsense.
But it is leverage. And Trump likes leverage.
It is this pressure – Redstone's need to settle this lawsuit, while her news leaders like Owens have refused to apologize, retract or admit error – that led to his resignation, citing 'interference' from corporate.
This is a lose-lose situation. If Redstone caves to Trump she may get her Paramount deal, but at what cost? She undermines CBS News, a key asset. She damages the credibility of the organization, chases out talent and loses the trust of her news division.
'The lawsuit is baseless,' keened a top CBS News executive, who is normally a supporter of Redstone, speaking on background. 'What makes it so difficult – to capitulate and settle when the lawsuit is baseless – is this puts the corporation in a horrible position.'
This person continued: 'Maybe Shari doesn't appreciate the depth of destruction of the First Amendment in settling… You're blinded by things. There's no doubt she understands that everyone in the news division feels capitulating is such a serious blow to the First Amendment.'
But — has anyone said this directly to Shari Redstone? I don't think anyone has. Instead she's clearly leaning toward giving in.
'We might be in a position — if we can reach a reasonable settlement — we might have to do that,' an individual close to Redstone told me. 'As a news organization, having this litigation makes it impossible to function as a company over time.'
That's nonsense. Of course Paramount Global can litigate a federal lawsuit over time and still function in its news division. It's the company sale that is at stake if Trump doesn't get what he wants.
So Shari, if no one at CBS or Paramount will tell you, I will: your fears over antisemitism, your concerns over the tilt against Israel in news coverage, are real. They are legitimate. They are valid. But they are not a reason to betray your news organization and give in to Donald Trump. That will only hurt your company, hurt freedom of the press and harm the legacy of CBS News built over decades.
Fight for your freedom and the right of those at CBS News — and for all of us — to report, to criticize, to challenge and, sometimes, to mess up. That is the fractured beauty of this thing we cling to called democracy. For your children and grandchildren, I hope you choose courage.
The post Letter to Shari Redstone: You're Conflating the Antisemitism Fight With Press Freedom, and You Will Lose Both appeared first on TheWrap.