Move over Murdochs, here come the Ellisons

April 6, 2026·33 min·3 clips

CBS News handed Trump $16 million in a settlement critics called a 'big fat bribe' to smooth the Ellison media deal.

The frame is stark. A billionaire father and son are buying into American media, with Larry Ellison introduced through Elon Musk's praise and Oracle's AI-driven surge. Then the episode tightens its focus. The host asks what the Ellisons want from CBS News, and the guest says they have been clear enough: they want to change the tone. Publicly, the pitch sounds friendly. CBS should appeal to all Americans and stop being left wing. The guest does not buy it. CBS, NBC, and ABC come across here as cautious network newsrooms that usually aim for the middle, sometimes so carefully that they sand the edges off the story. That is why the shift feels loaded. In the guest's reading, talk about telling your stories gives the owners a softer way to move CBS rightward. David Ellison's early move is the giveaway. At CBS News, he brings in Barry Weiss as editor in chief, even though she has no broadcast experience. Her record carries its own signal: the New York Times opinion desk, the Free Press, a break over what she saw as excessive wokeness, anti-woke coverage, attacks on diversity efforts, and a staunch Zionist position. The host keeps the pressure on. This is not treated as office politics. It is about the kind of newsroom the appointment is meant to build. The answer is measured but uneasy: a cautious legacy broadcaster is being pushed toward a clearer political identity by owners who call that change broader appeal.

As heard by us

A pointed media-politics episode on the Ellisons, CBS News and the fight over what changing a newsroom's tone really means.

Today in Focus traces the Ellisons as a new force in American media: Larry Ellison, the Oracle billionaire, and David Ellison's role at CBS News.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

If you've been following the Ellison media push, this one connects the money, the takeover, and the newsroom shake-up.

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