On Thursday evening, amid swirling speculation about the Brown University gunman, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins took to social media, noting the confusion and guiding the public to her network’s 9pm newscast.
While the network is hardly a impeccable news source, her message seemed accurate for numerous observers. It stands as one of the outlets where one can locate fact-based and generally reliable reporting – especially during breaking news situations like the one unfolding close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Vulnerable Position Amid a Business Struggle
Yet the news network, now 45 years old, finds itself in a precarious situation as two giant media conglomerates battle over ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the future of CNN has become part of a major game of business acquisition, not as a question of what serves the news-consuming public.
“This represents another instance of the profound systemic issues with origins in many years of policy decisions,” stated Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Pennsylvania University.
The conjecture about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a more important point.
“It is often framed as a financial tale with key players as the central actors, but there is very little discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard said.
A Further Layer: Donald Trump
This situation is complicated by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his main “fake news” antagonist.
Think back to the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his administration’s punitive revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his clashes with Collins in White House briefings.
Trump now says that the network requires new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will shield him from negative coverage and examination. That is a factor in why he appears to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.
Trump has reason to like that company more. For one thing, it is run by David Ellison, son of the ally of Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
The company, owner of CBS News, also recently placed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that venerable news network.
A Possibility of Further Instability
It is important to note, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a standalone company. Such a move could be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s hardly a secure position. That structure could pave the way for CNN for another sale. There is no finish line.
According to Timothy Wu, a lot of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance recently argued that competition laws should block both deals.
“Either merger would be harmful to the country, and both should be contested by the government,” Wu recently wrote.
The Bigger Problem and a Way Ahead
Whatever happens with this particular battle, the larger issue remains.
“What we have now is a profoundly anti-democratic system, but we must resist the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard said. Policy decisions – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this overly commercial monster, and different policy decisions can address it.
Is this likely in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair will not confirm that the agency is independent? Change is a distant prospect now, but that should not imply it will never happen.
Measures that bolster independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, finance public media, and prevent the accumulation of media power in a handful of hands are within reach – they are essential for a healthy democracy.
When it comes to media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations like CNN shouldn’t be pawns in the most recent acquisition battle.
