CBS News anchor slams parent company Paramount for Trump settlement

CBS News anchor John Dickerson lamented parent company Paramount’s multi-million dollar settlement with President Donald Trump on Wednesday. 

“Paramount Global, the parent company of CBS News, settled a suit with President Trump today,” Dickerson said on CBS Evening News Plus, a news program on their streaming service. “Journalists don’t like to report on themselves. Sometimes that’s false humility. Mostly, it’s a practical limitation. Reporters try to find order in chaos.” 

Dickerson said the settlement and ones like it hinder the press’ ability to “hold power to account.” 

“The Paramount settlement poses a new obstacle,” Dickerson said. “Can you hold power to account after paying it millions? Can an audience trust you when it thinks you’ve traded away that trust? The audience will decide that our job is to show up to honor what we witness.”

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Fox News Digital has learned that the sum being paid to Trump could reach north of $30 million with $16 million being paid upfront for his future presidential library, in addition to another allocation in the eight figures set aside for advertisements, public service announcements, or other similar transmissions, in support of conservative causes by the network in the future.

Current Paramount management disputes the additional allocation, and a source familiar with Paramount’s current leadership told Fox New Digital only $16 million was sanctioned by the official mediator, and they have no knowledge of any deal Trump made with incoming ownership as Paramount is set to merge with David Ellison’s Skydance Media. However, Fox News Digital has learned that the incoming ownership will be responsible for the additional allocation.

During the “CBS Evening News” program, which airs on broadcast TV to a much-wider audience, Dickerson had less to say about the settlement. 

“In the end, Paramount decided to settle a suit it said is without basis in law and fact and an affront to the First Amendment,” Dickerson said, quoting from a previous filing from Paramount.

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Trump initially sought $20 billion in his lawsuit against CBS over its handling of a “60 Minutes” interview last year with then-Vice President Kamala Harris, accusing the network of election interference leading up to the 2024 contest. CBS is not acknowledging any journalistic wrongdoing with the settlement.