For media companies, news is becoming a toxic asset

The latest episode of “60 Minutes”, broadcast on CBS on April 27th, began with items on medical-research funding, Islamist terrorism and Japan’s population crisis. But its biggest story was delivered in the final 60 seconds. “Our parent company, Paramount, is trying to complete a merger,” the correspondent, Scott Pelley, explained to the show’s 7m or so viewers. “The Trump administration must approve it. Paramount began to supervise our content in new ways.”