How Trump’s influence is reshaping CBS and US media independence

CBS, a mainstay of the broadcast television landscape, has been rattled by editorial changes that insiders fear are tied to President Donald Trump’s influence, as concerns grow about a broader erosion of media independence in the US.

Since CBS in mid-2025 became a part of Paramount Skydance, which is headed by Trump ally David Ellison, the network has clashed with its star latenight host Stephen Colbert, and seen a raft of journalists resign.

Colbert recently said the network blocked the broadcast of his interview with Texas Democrat James Talarico, who is running to unseat incumbent Republican Senator John Cornyn.

Many CBS News journalists –including top producers of the flagship newsmagazine “60 Minutes” – have quit while airing complaints of interference in their editorial independence at the company.

“This is yet another troubling example of corporate capitulation in the face of this Administration’s broader campaign to censor and control speech,” broadcast regulator Anna M Gomez said in a statement.

Of the three current commissioners at the FCC, the government agency that regulates the airwaves, Gomez is the only one not appointed by Trump.

New CBS leadership was brought in at the end of 2025, with the appointment of Bari Weiss – a long-standing critic of progressive politics – as Editor in Chief.

Weiss sparked blowback with her first decisions at the helm of the newsroom, which included yanking a report on the Trump administration’s anti-immigrant crackdown hours before it was scheduled to broadcast. It was later aired with a revised introduction.

During that time, many journalists chose to leave the CBS newsroom –once home to famed US journalists Walter Cronkite and Edward R Murrow and a long reputation for excellence in American journalism.

Several current and former CBS journalists declined to comment, even anonymously, pointing to a climate of fear.

The new approach under Ellison at CBS is “primarily to appease or curry favor with the Trump administration in anticipation for an aspiring acquisition of Warner Brothers discovery,” Victor Pickard, professor of media policy and political economy at the University of Pennsylvania, said.

The 2025 deal for Skydance to takeover Paramount, CBS’s parent company, included the unprecedented promise that the organisation would “root out bias that has undermined trust,” FCC chairperson Brendan Carr said.

Before the deal was inked, Paramount also agreed to pay $16 million in response to Trump’s complaint over CBS’s coverage of the election.

Colbert described that as “a big fat bribe”.

But Trump brushed off such allegations, and called the acquisition “the greatest thing that’s happened in a long time to a free and open and good press.”

Now the journalists at CNN are holding their breath, as their network has also been purchased by Skydance through its upcoming acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery.

Long targeted by Trump for its reporting, CNN is a well recognised international brand, even though its ratings in the US lag behind Fox News.

AFP