Why the Paramount‑Warner merger threatens democracy

Media critic Ben Bagdikian warned in 2004 that five corporations had accumulated “more communications power than was exercised by any despot or dictatorship in history.” More than 20 years later, a major media merger is bringing his warning back into focus. Paramount’s acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery in October 2026 created a new company, Skydance Corporation. It now owns CNN and CBS News, Warner Bros. and Paramount Pictures, HBO and Paramount+, along with a sprawling collection of cabl...