Paramount Skydance is preparing a bid to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery — including its cable networks, studios, and streaming services. If carried through, this deal would put under one roof some of the most powerful media and news brands in the U.S., including CNN, HBO Max, CBS News, MTV, BET, Comedy Central, plus HGTV, TNT, and Food Network.

Such concentration threatens the independence of journalism, dilutes diverse viewpoints, and increases the risk that reporting will be shaped by political or corporate interests rather than what the public needs to know.

The ability of journalists to investigate and question power depends on media companies being accountable first to the public — not just to shareholder profits.

That’s why the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the Department of Justice Antitrust Division must act swiftly and decisively. They should launch a thorough antitrust review of the proposed Paramount-Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery consolidation, with special attention to media plurality, editorial independence, and audience impact.

Regulators must also be prepared to block mergers that would result in excessive concentration of media ownership, especially when so many major outlets that serve as sources of news, culture, and public interest are at stake.

And if any merger is allowed to proceed, it must come with strict safeguards to protect newsroom autonomy, prevent conflicts of interest with advertisers or political allies, and preserve the diverse, local, and investigative reporting that democracy requires.

Add your name to demand that the FCC and DOJ protect our democratic information ecosystem. Journalism must serve the people — not just powerful business interests.