Opposition Letter to Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery Merger

An open letter signed by movie and TV professionals illustrates persuasive communication and a few sensitive issues.

Students can identify the major arguments in the letter, which are primarily around dangers of consolidation and reduced competition. They might also identify the strongest and weakest arguments. Here are a few examples:

• The anti-trust framing is a strong argument, particularly with reference to only four remaining major U.S. studios and planned legal action mentioned at the end.

• Discussion of reduced opportunities is a strong argument about the negative effect on jobs and those who rely on the industry.

• The “collapse of the international sales market” claim is a big statement without evidence and could be interpreted as a slippery slope fallacy.

• Missing evidence is also apparent in claims about the “severe strain” of the industry, although this might be obvious to insiders.

Also notable is the long list of signatories and, particularly, those selected for top billing. In boxes instead of a text list are “featured signatories,” and we might wonder how they achieved this status. Do they represent paid supporters, well-known names, or something else? Do those at the bottom know they won’t be featured?

Anyone can sign the Google form and provide a role. We see a few moviegoer, consumer, voter, and citizen” roles, so maybe those “featured” are culled for actors and directors?

Regardless of the popularity of the letter, will it work? If the primary audience are the dealmakers, we might assume not.