CBS fired Stephen Colbert under pressure from the Trump administration and the Ellison family (major Trump supporters), who are acquiring Paramount, highlighting how political leverage is being used to silence critical comedy.

The proposed Paramount-Warner Bros. merger would further consolidate media power, putting CBS News and CNN under Trumper influence (e.g., Bari Weiss at CBS), reducing competition and threatening independent journalism.

The article calls for systemic reform, including blocking the merger on antitrust grounds and creating a new funding model for independent media (e.g., $100 individual tax credits for news outlets) to reduce dependence on wealthy owners and protect a free press.

Until a couple of months ago, we could get a dose of humor to help us get through the craziness, cruelty, and corruption of the Trump administration. But CBS pulled Stephen Colbert off the air, and not because of bad ratings — he had by far the most widely viewed network show at that hour.

The problem was Donald Trump is too thin-skinned to put up with a comedian poking fun at him regularly. As a result, he had Brendan Carr, his chair of the Federal Communications Commission, imply that the Ellison family’s effort to take over Paramount, CBS’s parent company, would be blocked if Colbert wasn’t fired. The Elliot family includes prominent Trumper Larry Ellison, one of the richest people in the world, and David Ellison, his equally right-wing son who most immediately controls........

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