By Betsey Piette
October 16, 2025

Noticeable throughout the two years of the U.S./Israeli genocidal war on Gaza has been the underwhelming lack of U.S. media coverage of the carnage impacting Palestinians and the media’s overwhelming support for Israel. In the initial days and months after Oct. 7, 2023, every corporate media repeated the Israeli regime’s lies that nobody in Fox News, the New York Times, CNN or the Washington Post challenged before publishing.

It took nearly two years and the deaths of tens of thousands of Palestinian people for U.S. media to finally report on some of the truths of this war, including Israel’s genocidal starvation of Palestinian children. Now, for perhaps the first time, more media are covering the devastation confronting Palestinians on the ground in Gaza as they return to what remains of their homes. There was almost an iota of sympathy for families finding out that everything they owned had been destroyed by Israeli bombs, paid for by the U.S.

But that may soon change, and not for the better.

A family affair

In a merger that barely made ripples in the news in July, David Ellison’s Hollywood company Skydance took over Paramount Pictures, giving Ellison control of CBS and other TV and movie franchises. Ellison’s father, software billionaire Larry Ellison — the second-richest person in the world and a crony of President Donald Trump — provided the $8.4 billion to seal the deal.

David Ellison told the Federal Communications Commission that Skydance would assure that its news and entertainment programming embodied “a diversity of viewpoints” and that an ombudsman would be appointed to handle any complaints of bias at CBS. (The Washington Post, Oct. 4)

Just weeks before the FCC approved the merger, Paramount agreed to settle a $16 million lawsuit filed by Trump claiming that CBS “60 Minutes” interfered with his reelection prospects by airing an interview with then Vice-President Kamala Harris. CBS also cancelled, starting next May, Stephen Colbert’s top-rated late-night show. Colbert is a prominent Trump critic.

Journalists at CBS News are now witnessing the kind of political transformations Ellison has in mind for the station. On Oct. 3, he appointed “anti-woke” and pro-Israel pundit Bari Weiss as editor-in-chief, while paying her $150 million to acquire her digital media outlet, The Free Press. Weiss, a former New York Times opinion columnist, quit the Times in 2020, citing its alleged left-leaning editorial policies. A self-described “Zionist Fanatic,” Weiss has also tried to get college professors fired for supporting Palestinians.

According to Breakermedia.com on Oct. 2, David Ellison is also preparing to cut 10% of the CBS News staff. Leading up to the merger that gave Ellison control over CBS, Skydance promised FCC Chair Brendan Carr that “the new Paramount would not only eliminate all diversity hiring policies but would also install an ombudsman who would review ‘complaints of bias’ at CBS News.” (the-Independent.com, Sept. 8)

On Sept. 8, Kenneth Weinstein, a former Trump appointee and conservative think tank leader, was appointed to serve as the news network’s ombudsman.

Hoping to use TikTok for pro-Zionist propaganda

A Trump Executive Order issued Sept. 25 entitled “Save TikTok by Protecting National Security” positioned Larry Ellison’s tech company Oracle to become a major co-owner of the U.S. version of TikTok. Currently, one in five people in the U.S., including a majority in the 18-to-29 age range, get their news from TikTok.

Larry Ellison began his career creating databases for the CIA. He started Oracle in 1977, becoming a millionaire by 1986 when Oracle completed its public offering. The company’s rapid growth quickly made him a billionaire. Ellison is also the largest private funder of the Israel Occupation Forces and a close friend of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement reports that “Oracle’s complicity in Israel’s illegal occupation and genocide is well documented through its strong ties to the Israeli military, its collaboration with Israeli government ministries and its investments in Israel’s apartheid economy. The company knowingly provides Israel with technology, including artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud services, that are deployed to facilitate grave human rights violations.

“Oracle’s partnerships with the Israeli military, its leadership’s ideological commitment to Zionism and its role in maintaining Israel’s illegal occupation means the company is complicit in war crimes, crimes against humanity (including apartheid), as well as genocide. Oracle proudly partners with Israel despite its genocide in Gaza and unprecedented military assaults in the West Bank.” (bdsmovement.net)

A day after the announcement about Oracle’s potential role with TikTok, Netanyahu commented, “Weapons change over time; the most important ones are social media.” He noted that the purchase of TikTok “is the most important purchase being made right now.” (People’s Dispatch, Oct. 9)

In the People’s Dispatch, Miguel Ruíz noted that the Ellisons “now have their sights set on the acquisition of Warner-Brothers Discovery which includes CNN.”

The danger of hyperconcentration of the media in the hands of a multibillionaire, pro-Zionist family like the Ellisons demands the same push-back and boycott threats Disney and ABC received when they suspended “Jimmy Kimmel Live.”

Calls to boycott TikTok and Oracle are already appearing on Reddit and other social media.