Paramount Skydance is set to take control of Warner Bros Discovery after reaching a settlement with 12 U.S. states and a Hollywood writers' union, clearing the way for its $110 billion buyout. The agreement requires a five-member editorial independence board for CNN and CBS News, with members appointed and paid by the combined company. The board will establish journalism principles and handle internal disputes over reporting bias and conflicts between staff and management, but the settlement does not explicitly give it investigative oversight, require its findings to be public or clearly make its decisions binding. Members will serve three-year terms and can be removed only for good cause, while Paramount retains exclusive authority to fill vacancies. A separate independent monitoring trustee will oversee film production and cable licensing but has no authority over news operations. Critics, including media lawyers, journalists and some CNN staff, say the arrangement leaves final authority with David Ellison and contains a significant enforcement gap. The board will be created within 180 days after the merger, giving the new owner roughly six months to reshape newsroom leadership. The structure is being compared with a committee created when Rupert Murdoch's News Corp bought the Wall Street Journal in 2007, which critics later viewed as ineffective.