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White House Could Use AT&T/Time Warner Deal As 'Leverage' Against CNN (arstechnica.com)

An anonymous reader shares an excerpt from a report via Ars Technica: AT&T seems to be on track to close its purchase of Time Warner Inc., but President Donald Trump's hatred of Time Warner property CNN could still be a "wild card" in the deal. Trump's feud with CNN was described yesterday in a New York Times article titled "The Network Against the Leader of the Free World." Within that article is one tidbit that could affect AT&T's proposed $85.4 billion purchase of Time Warner, which owns CNN and other media properties such as HBO and Turner Broadcasting System: "White House advisers have discussed a potential point of leverage over their adversary, a senior administration official said: a pending merger between CNN's parent company, Time Warner, and AT&T. Mr. Trump's Justice Department will decide whether to approve the merger, and while analysts say there is little to stop the deal from moving forward, the president's animus toward CNN remains a wild card."

Separately, The Daily Caller wrote today that Trump doesn't want the merger to be approved unless CNN President Jeff Zucker is fired. The conservative news website attributed the information to "a source familiar with President Trump's thinking." Zucker told the New York Times that the pending merger has not affected his journalistic or management decisions.

14 of 302 comments (clear)

  1. s/Trump/Obama/g by Bigbutt · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I'm always interested in the opinions of folks if any article, regardless of the media source, replaced Trump with Obama in the article.

    [John]

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    Shit better not happen!
    1. Re:s/Trump/Obama/g by Train0987 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Is that a joke? How many reporters were under surveillance during the Obama administration? Several that we know of. Not to mention his weaponized use of the IRS.

    2. Re:s/Trump/Obama/g by aicrules · · Score: 2, Insightful

      If CNN/NY Times had levied this level of attack to Obama, I would be citing those stories as proof that they aren't biased, just hollow brained. They are supposed to be a world class news agency, yet they continue to publish unverified stories that can't even be followed up on to fact check. It's honestly like they are trying to self destruct because eventually this shit will catch up with them. It already has in some areas...they just don't seem to care enough to change....oh wait..maybe the hint is in the fact noted in the article that they (CNN) are making so much money being exactly this kind of news agency. Fuck integrity, just sell ads!

    3. Re:s/Trump/Obama/g by swillden · · Score: 5, Insightful

      FYI: You're living in a reality distortion field. You should turn that off.

      Obama didn't fire Wagoneer, he asked him to resign and Wagoneer agreed. And the motivation for the request was GM's request for a multi-billion dollar bailout; the resignation wasn't a condition of receiving the bailout, but IMO it would have been perfectly reasonable if it were. If a CEO has to beg the government to save his company, he's clearly failed.

      What was your dipshit Obama suckup point again?

      Sigh. This is the sad state of what passes for political discussion in the US. One can't state facts that show one side in a bad light without being accused of being partisan for the other side. I didn't care for Obama and I'm glad he's not the the White House any more. That said, I'd gladly trade Trump for just about anybody, Obama included.

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    4. Re:s/Trump/Obama/g by quantaman · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I'm always interested in the opinions of folks if any article, regardless of the media source, replaced Trump with Obama in the article.

      [John]

      If Obama had threatened regulatory action against Fox unless Fox News ditched Roger Ailes or some pundit then it would rightfully be a major political scandal.

      I don't think it would quite reach the level of impeachment, but it would easily have been the worst thing Obama did as a President.

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      I stole this Sig
  2. Made up? by unixcorn · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Whether it's CNN or any other news organization, does it bother others when you read shit like this;
    "The conservative news website attributed the information to "a source familiar with President Trump's thinking."
    I AM conservative and I call bullshit on printing hearsay like this. Come on media, print what he says, not what others think he his thinking is like.

  3. Re:Bad News by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Miss the point much?

    The problem is not the financial well being of either corporation. The problem is the possibility that the President is attempting to dictate who can and cannot be president of a company that controls one of the major news networks.

  4. Re: Abuse of Power by ud0 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Has any former President ever been so open in his abuse of power?

    The President? It's CNN that is blackmailing people they disagree with.

    This is a fallacy. Being (ethically) corrupt isn't a zero-sum pool. They can both be horrible at the same time. It's still an abuse of power even if you're doing it to someone reprehensible. Also: criticizing one for their actions is not an implicit endorsement of the other party.

  5. Re:Abuse of Power by aicrules · · Score: 4, Insightful

    He hasn't actually done what is stated in this article. Unnamed "White House advisers" and "source familiar with President Trump’s thinking". Yes, it is common for news agencies to report based on anonymous sources, but given the lack of journalistic integrity that has plagued coverage of Trump, shit like this has no place in headlines without verifiable sources. When I see any story about anybody that has it's sole source for such a damning quote being an anonymous source with nothing else to back it up, I immediately dismiss it. Doesn't matter if it's Trump, Obama, someone I love, or someone I hate. Literally none of the Trump connections to Russia in the formerly "earth shattering" Russia Dossier have been proven true. Yet it was bandied about like it was Trump's death sentence. Where are all the retractions? Three people at CNN fired? That's it? Bullshit. They just double down and go after the next fake story.

  6. The real story here by guruevi · · Score: 1, Insightful

    AT&T is trying to merge with TW which is also part of Comcast. As if you didn't have choices before, now they'll have virtually all of the DSL, Cable and Wireless market as well as all the media companies that come along under one big corporation. I thought Ma Bell was split up to prevent these kinds of things.

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  7. Re:CNN is not the press by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    that same hairsplitting works on the 2nd amendment too. lets see how THAT works out...

  8. Re:Thank you Trump! by paiute · · Score: 2, Insightful

    everyone who voted for either Hillary or Trump should be fucking shot.

    Fuck off, pal. I voted for Clinton because she was one of the most qualified candidates in recent memory. This bullshit of equating the two persons is just insane.

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  9. Re:Thank you Trump! by MightyMartian · · Score: 2, Insightful

    So a lot like the right wing press during the Clinton and Obama administrations then...

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    The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
  10. Re:Did by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Being "an established institution" doesn't mean anything.

    Having a century long track record of accurate news reporting means a LOT. It makes them a lot more credible than fucking "judicialwatch". sexconker, you're a fucking moron. Have another Troll mod.