CNN Star’s Ellison Alarm, Bari Weiss' Never-Ending Ratings Spiral, The Next Murdoch Media Empire
Power Lines with Oliver Darcy and Jon PassantinoShow Notes
Power Lines is the official podcast of Status, where veteran journalists Oliver Darcy and Jon Passantino deliver sharp media industry analysis every Friday.
On today’s episode:
Christiane Amanpour has become the first CNN star to say the quiet part out loud about David Ellison's upcoming takeover. Bari Weiss is in ratings hell—and under fire from a “60 Minutes” correspondent. Meanwhile, some of Substack’s biggest publishers are eyeing the exits, while James Murdoch moves closer to building a media empire of his own with a deal for Vox’s podcast network and New York Magazine.
Read all of these stories and more at Status: https://www.status.news
0:00 Intro
1:43 Christiane Amanpour Speaks Out on CNN's Ellison Takeover
5:55 Bari Weiss' Ratings Spiral, 60 Minutes Correspondent Pushes Back
18:12 James Murdoch Moves on Vox Podcasts and New York Magazine
31:15 Substack's Biggest Publishers Eye the Exits
49:45 Open Lines: Oliver and Jon Answer Your Questions
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More from Power Lines with Oliver Darcy and Jon Passantino
On today’s episode:
In a special episode of Power Lines, we publish exclusive audio from a stunning all-hands meeting in which Bari Weiss' handpicked foreign editor, Shayndi Raice, unleashed a lengthy tirade against her own CBS News journalists.
After completing his acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, David Ellison is facing questions about his relationship with Donald Trump and his plans for CNN. Jon shares what happened when he pressed Ellison directly on the Paramount lot, and Oliver reports on Anderson Cooper’s pointed questions for his new boss at an internal company town hall.
The future of CNN is coming into focus…at least for now. David Ellison has opened talks with Mark Thompson about extending his tenure as CNN’s chief. Oliver and Jon break down what the move signals to employees inside the network, what it could mean for CNN’s direction under Ellison, and where it leaves Bari Weiss, both now and down the road.
The anonymous source behind one of the stories that the White House used to justify its press ban was none other than JD Vance himself. We detail our exclusive reporting and get into the latest developments on Donald Trump’s war against the media.