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At some level in a single day Friday into Saturday, whereas battling insomnia, I used to be catching up on some applications I had just lately recorded. When I used to be achieved and about to go to mattress, I went again to cable and got here throughout a startling in a single day breaking information alert: The United States and Israel had launched coordinated assaults on Iran.
As I do in any breaking information story, I instantly turned to NCS.
Every main TV information group — together with ABC, CBS, NBC, MS NOW and Fox News — has devoted all of its assets to masking this enormous story. And all of them have achieved an admirable job, calling out their prime reporters and anchors and having particular programming to move alongside very important info.
Yet, it is moments like these when NCS particularly shines. I discovered myself, time and time once more, locking in on NCS’s coverage. On Saturday, as usually occurs when there is main breaking information, there is one thing reassuring about turning over to NCS and listening to Wolf Blitzer anchoring the coverage.
In addition, reporters similar to NCS’s Clarissa Ward supply info like few others.
Over the weekend, Ward mentioned on air, “The entire region is now on a knife’s edge with no off-ramp in sight and many more questions than there are answers. At this stage, we don’t have a good picture of who is now in charge in Iran. What will Iran’s next move be? Is there any possibility to now de-escalate this situation?”
Much of Ward’s info was primarily based on precise reporting — speaking to sources, being aware of the space, and having the expertise of previous battle coverage.
Throughout the weekend, NCS’s coverage was mesmerizing.
And vital.
As somebody who writes about the media and has a particular curiosity in it, I couldn’t assist however surprise what NCS will look and sound like when, ultimately, it is going to come underneath the management of Paramount, with CEO David Ellison, and, maybe, CBS News, with editor-in-chief Bari Weiss?
The beautiful information late final week that Paramount has swooped in to possible take management of Warner Bros. Discovery, together with NCS, has many at the information community questioning: What is subsequent?
NCS media reporter Brian Stelter wrote Friday, “Paramount executives have privately expressed admiration for NCS’s newsgathering machine and global reach. They have also talked about the prospect of combining CBS News with NCS, though that’s a lot easier said than done, and is not imminent.”
But there’s the relationship between Ellison and President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly criticized NCS and mentioned again in December, “It’s imperative that NCS be sold.” In truth, again in December, The Wall Street Journal wrote, “During a visit to Washington in recent days, David Ellison offered assurances to Trump administration officials that if he bought Warner, he’d make sweeping changes to NCS, a common target of President Trump’s ire, people familiar with the matter said. Trump has told people close to him that he wants new ownership of NCS as well as changes to NCS programming.”
Partly for that motive, Stelter wrote, “So NCS employees and viewers have serious concerns about whether Ellison will uphold the news network’s editorial independence amid severe political turbulence.”
In his Status media e-newsletter, Oliver Darcy, a former NCS staffer, wrote proper after Thursday’s Warner Bros. Discovery information broke, “Inside NCS, alarm bells went off as staffers began to panic over the suddenly very real prospect that they could be working for Bari Weiss before the end of the year. Within minutes of the news crossing the wire, my phone lit up with messages from anxious employees fretting about the future.”
One insider instructed Darcy, “The panic at NCS right now is off the charts.”
Understandably so.
NBC News’ Chloe Melas and Allie Canal wrote that one NCS journalist instructed them they believed some staffers would depart NCS if confronted with the prospect of working for David Ellison or Weiss. That individual instructed them, “No one wants to work for the Ellisons. And if Bari is going to be running NCS, expect people to leave.”
Viewers ought to be involved, too. Despite many criticisms, NCS continues to be a chief in nationwide and worldwide information and, with all due respect to the different networks, no community is higher and extra geared up to cowl enormous tales like Iran.
I’ll get again to the Warner Bros. Discovery sale in a second, however first, the large information story of the second …
CBS News aired a particular Saturday evening known as “War with Iran.” (Courtesy: CBS News)
The information now is dominated by the assaults on Iran, which has since retaliated. As I discussed earlier, every of the main TV information organizations has offered very good coverage. The networks — ABC, CBS and NBC — all have damaged into common programming when wanted, added particular prime-time coverage and introduced in their prime anchors.
NBC’s Tom Llamas anchored a particular hour on NBC and NBC News NOW on Saturday evening.
ABC’s David Muir anchored a particular version of “World News Tonight” on Saturday following a particular report earlier on the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
CBS’s Tony Dokoupil anchored a one-hour prime-time particular, “War with Iran,” Saturday evening, which aired on CBS and streamed on Paramount+. In addition, on Sunday night, CBS’s “60 Minutes” aired a new report, “Iran — Growing Up Behind Walls.” Correspondent Scott Pelley interviewed Reza Pahlavi, a chief of the Iranian opposition to the Islamic Republic and the son of the late deposed shah of Iran. Pelley additionally appeared into the future of Iran, together with whether or not or not a regime change is coming, what that could seem like and what may occur to Iran’s nuclear weapons.
Those have been simply a few examples amongst the particular reviews by these networks.
Fox News and MS NOW additionally had further dwell information programming round the occasions. Fox News’ glorious reporter, Trey Yingst, all the time appears to be close to the hazard. He had some shut calls whereas reporting from Tel Aviv, as you may see in this video, this video and this video.
Check out this story from Mediaite’s Sean James: “‘We Got To Move’: Fox’s Trey Yingst Scrambles for Safety as ‘Massive’ Iranian Missile Strike Rocks Tel Aviv Live on Air.”
However, masking this case is not straightforward. As Status’ Natalie Korach explained, “In a nation largely closed to Western media and with broadly limited internet access, the conflict is unfolding as something of an information black box, forcing news organizations to cover one of the most consequential military escalations in years largely from the outside.”
Korach wrote, “Major news outlets contacted by Status would not address whether they intended to send journalists into Iran, citing obvious safety concerns. And for the moment, what appears to be the defining conflict of Trump’s presidency thus far is unfolding largely outside the sight of Western journalists.”
Is the United States at present in a battle with Iran? Yes, in response to The Associated Press. The AP wrote about its resolution on what to name this: “How the AP decided to describe joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran, and Iran’s retaliation, as a war.”
First, the AP referenced the Merriam-Webster definition of battle, which the AP admitted is fairly broad: “A state of usually open and declared armed hostile conflict between states or nations,” or “a state of hostility, conflict, or antagonism.”
The AP wrote, “Even though none of the countries have officially declared war, the attacks by the United States and Israel, combined with Iran’s retaliation, meet those criteria. The decision by the Trump administration and Israeli leaders to attack and the subsequent destruction and casualties are enough to call the actions, and Iran’s response, a war. Trump himself has used the word war to describe the conflict.”
There’s way more to the AP’s rationalization, so I encourage you to learn it.
- Speaking of Reza Pahlavi, he wrote a piece in The Washington Post: “Thanks to President Trump, the hour of Iran’s freedom is at hand.”
- For The New York Times, Christina Goldbaum and Kiana Hayeri with “‘It’s Surreal’: Iranians in Disbelief After Supreme Leader Is Killed.”
- The New York Times editorial board with “A Tyrant Falls. Dangerous Uncertainty Begins.” The board wrote, “There exists no Iranian opposition group of any stature, which creates deep uncertainty about what comes next. Ayatollah Khamenei had a succession plan that favored clerics, but U.S. intelligence officials have assessed that the power vacuum could result in hard-line factions of the Revolutionary Guards seizing control. The risks of civil war, internal slaughter and regional instability are profound.” The board additionally raised this alarming level: “The bigger risks may lie in the future. The president of the United States has just helped assassinate a foreign leader without the approval of Congress, the support of most allies or a plan for the future. History suggests that unilateral American involvement along these lines often has consequences that are not immediately apparent.”
- And right here’s what The Washington Post editorial board wrote: “Trump’s Iran gamble.” The board wrote, “It’s jarring to hear a clear call for democracy in Iran from an American president who campaigned on preventing open-ended conflicts in the Middle East. Success will likely require more than a bombing campaign.” It added, “It’s hard to see how ‘freedom for the people’ can be accomplished in any meaningful sense without some U.S. boots on the ground, at least for a time. Yet Trump appears to lack any appetite for doing so. That might give pause to civilians trying to decide whether to risk their lives by rising up. Whether Trump has made the right call will hinge on factors now beyond his control. No president has ever intended to get drawn into a quagmire.”
- The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board with “It’s Too Soon for Iran ‘Off-Ramps.’” The board wrote, “The biggest mistake President Trump could make now would be to end the war too soon, before Iran’s military and its domestic terror forces have been more thoroughly destroyed.” It added, “This doesn’t imply a forever bombing campaign in Iran. But it does mean continuing as long as it takes to ensure that, even if the regime doesn’t fall, it will no longer be a threat to its neighbors. And perhaps it can be weakened enough that its people can muster the ability to install a government that wants to be a normal nation again, rather than one that seeks to spread revolution and kill Jews, Sunni Arabs and Americans.”
- Politico’s Jack Detsch, Joe Gould, Eli Stokols and John Sakellariadis with “Pentagon offers no evidence to support claim it attacked Iran in defense.”
- And from Poynter’s PolitiFact, Amy Sherman with “Could Iran ‘soon’ hit US with long-range missile? Experts doubt Trump as US bombs Iran.”
And now again to extra on the WBD sale …
Paramount CEO David Ellison, proven right here in 2025. (Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)
There are two insightful reviews about how Paramount didn’t hand over in its pursuit of WBD and ended up muscling its well beyond Netflix. It additionally helped that the Trump administration appeared to be placing its thumb on the scale to favor Paramount. Any sale of WBD requires approval from Trump regulators, and it could seem that Trump’s friendship with Paramount CEO David Ellison and Ellison’s father, Larry, actually performed a function.
There’s the Los Angeles Times’ Meg James with, “Power, politics and a $2.8-billion exit: How Paramount topped Netflix to win Warner Bros.” Netflix stunningly dropped its pursuit of the WBD after co-chief govt Ted Sarandos met with Attorney General Pam Bondi and a deputy at the White House on Friday. James wrote, “It was a cordial session, but the Trump officials told Sarandos that his deal was facing significant hurdles in Washington, according to a person close to the administration who was not authorized to comment publicly. Even before that meeting, the tide had turned for Paramount in a swell of power, politics and brinkmanship.”
James added, “Key to victory was Larry Ellison, his $200-billion fortune and his connections to President Trump and congressional Republicans. Paramount also hired Trump’s former antitrust chief, attorney Makan Delrahim, to quarterback the firm’s legal and regulatory action. Republicans during a Senate hearing this month piled onto Sarandos with complaints about potential monopolistic practices and ‘woke’ programming.”
So you may see why there are issues about the affect on this sale from Trump, his administration and different conservatives.
James additionally added that Sarandos was at the heart of two current controversies that brought on main complications. “First,” James wrote, “famed filmmaker James Cameron endorsed Paramount, saying a Netflix takeover would lead to massive job losses in the entertainment industry, which is already reeling from a production slowdown in Southern California that has disrupted the lives of thousands of film industry workers. Then, a week ago, Trump took aim at Netflix board member Susan Rice, a former high-level Obama and Biden administration official. In a social media post, Trump called Rice a ‘no talent … political hack,’ and said that Netflix must fire her or ‘pay the consequences.’”
And for extra perception, there’s this piece from The New York Times’ Benjamin Mullin and Lauren Hirsch: “How David Zaslav Pulled Off the Deal of a Lifetime.” (Zaslav is the chief govt of WBD.)
This being a e-newsletter about the media, we’ve focused on what a potential Warner Bros. Discovery sale to Paramount could imply for NCS. But the different half of this deal — the place the actual cash in the deal is tied up — is the leisure half.
Should the deal undergo, because it’s anticipated to, Paramount will purchase WBD’s movie and TV studios, its gaming enterprise, HBO Max and HBO. This contains big entertainment properties similar to DC Comics and the Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings franchises, simply to call a few examples.
Hollywood isn’t celebrating this transfer, not that it was wanting ahead to a potential Netflix acquisition both. In an opinion piece for The New York Times, Sharon Waxman — founder, chief govt and editor in chief of TheWrap — wrote, “After years of tumult — Covid, strikes, streamer wars, wildfires — Hollywood is exhausted, angry, resentful and anxious. Now that Paramount has come out on top, the only relief is that the wait is over. Will it be good for business? Or just less bad than if Netflix had prevailed?”
There is a lot of pessimism in Hollywood. Waxman wrote, “With Paramount the apparent winner, down on the ground where people work every day, they know what’s coming. Fewer jobs. Tighter budgets. More consolidation. Can the industry do much more than survive? The trepidation over this latest merger comes from the fear that Hollywood still hasn’t touched bottom.”
- Poynter president Neil Brown wrote an opinion piece for USA Today about Stephen Colbert’s censored interview with Texas political candidate James Talarico: “Censoring network TV is outdated. America needs free speech.”
- The Washington Post’s Will Oremus and Scott Nover with “An Ohio newspaper has a new star writer. It isn’t human.”
- Good stuff from The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand about the always-shifting NFL media setting: “The NFL TV landscape is headed toward a free agent frenzy.”
- Just for kicks, I went to the sports homepage of The Washington Post on Sunday afternoon. The part was gutted in current large layoffs. The featured story was an Associated Press story about an NHL participant for the Vegas Golden Knights leaving the sport early as a result of of an damage he suffered in a sport towards the Pittsburgh Penguins. Huh? The relaxation of the prime tales have been additionally from AP, together with largely school basketball sport tales. Scroll down a bit and you do get a few employees tales — however they’re from greater than a month in the past.
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Have suggestions or a tip? Email Poynter senior media author Tom Jones at [email protected].
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