Can Paramount "gift" its way past the FCC?

Wayland, I'm so proud of myself. I just won the top prize at ring toss. Oh, is that why you're holding this giant teddy bear, Darien? No. I just brought this one from home, but what I did win was a subscription to the Indicator newsletter. Oh, congratulations. That's very exciting. You can sign up too at npr.org/indicatornewsletter. NPR. In these divided times, it feels rare to find something most Americans can agree on. But, apparently, most do agree on this, quote, the federal government is corrupt. Yeah. According to a survey by the nonprofit Partnership for Public Service, two thirds of Americans agree with that statement. Honestly, kinda surprised it's not higher. Holding heads across the aisle in shared disgust of corruption. Yeah. And given such low levels of trust in our government, you might think that our public servants, especially the leaders at the very top of our institutions, would do everything they can to avoid damaging that trust any further, to avoid even the appearance of corruption or conflicts of interest. Well, in the example we're focusing on today, you would be wrong. This is the indicator from Planet Money. I'm Adrienne Ma. And I'm Darienne Woods. Today on the show, we talk with ProPublica reporter Corey Johnson. His recent investigation shows how leaders at the Federal Communications Commission received hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of gifts from CBS or its parent company, Paramount Skydance. That's a company that's trying to buy its rival, Warner Brothers Discovery, for a $111,000,000,000 and is seeking FCC approval for the deal. After the break, we'll talk about what's at stake, why FCC officials may have broken the law, and what it all means for this massive media merger. This message comes from Rosetta Stone. Rosetta Stone is designed to make language learning intuitive. It mimics how people naturally acquire speech as children, helping users read, write, and think in a second language. More at rosettastone.com. Support for this podcast and the following message come from Vanguard. Every day, shareholders meet to discuss important matters about the companies you invest in. Now you can make your voice heard too. Vanguard Investor Choice makes it easy to set your proxy voting preference for your eligible Vanguard index funds. Visit vanguard.com/investorchoice to learn more. Vanguard investors own shares of their index funds, and those funds own shares of the companies they invest in. Vanguard Marketing Corporation distributor. This message comes from Bombas. Comfy footwear is the last thing you wanna worry about this summer. Bombas sandals and slides are perfect for beach days, barbecues, and everything in between. Go to bombas.com/npr. Once upon a time, the media company currently known as Paramount Skydance was actually two media companies, Paramount and Skydance. But a couple of years ago, they struck a merger deal. That's right. And in July 2025, the FCC approved this deal in a two to one vote. Later that year, ProPublica's Cory Johnson says the two Republican FCC commissioners who …