EVERYTHING
According to Deadline, archival producers are raising urgent concerns over the potential merger between Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery, highlighting what they describe as a significant threat to the preservation of historical media. The consolidation would place some of the world's most important news and documentary resources under the control of a single private entity.
The risk of silent consolidation
If Skydance Media successfully completes its acquisition of Paramount and subsequently takes over Warner Bros. Discovery, it will assume ownership of both the CBS News and CNN archives. Industry professionals argue that these collections are irreplaceable records of human history. Rochelle Widdowson, an archival producer for the documentary Ghost in the Machine, expressed deep concern during a recent screening at the Bentonville Film Festival.
Widdowson emphasized that the community must act to protect these resources from being taken offline or destroyed. "I think it’s really, really sad that there are a handful of people who are controlling these," — Rochelle Widdowson, archival producer. She noted that these archives represent moments of history that simply cannot be replaced if they are lost to corporate interests.
Barriers to historical access
The Archival Producers Alliance, a group representing over 650 members, has formally warned about the dangers of such a merger. The organization argues that archives are not merely passive repositories but active stewards of raw footage and original reporting. They highlighted several key risks associated with corporate consolidation:
- Decreased accessibility for independent filmmakers and researchers.
- The potential to politicize access to historical materials.
- Reduced licensing opportunities for non-owned media outlets.
- Risk of archives being moved behind private paywalls or deleted entirely.
To illustrate these risks, the Alliance pointed to a 2019 policy by The Walt Disney Company, which initially restricted the licensing of ABC News stories to only Disney-owned platforms. While that specific policy was eventually reversed, it served as a warning of how corporate ownership can hinder the ability of independent documentaries to tell accurate stories about national events.
A call for community action
The Archival Producers Alliance is calling on the public and the industry to recognize the importance of these records before they are consolidated further. They argue that history has shown how corporate mergers can lead to a narrower, more controlled narrative of the past. For documentary makers who rely on these archives to tell compelling stories about communities and countries, the merger represents a potential gatekeeping of our collective memory.