On Thursday evening, while unconfirmed reports spread regarding a shooting at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins used social media, pointing out the conflicting information and directing people to her network’s 9pm newscast.
While the network is hardly a perfect news source, her statement resonated for numerous observers. It remains one of the outlets where you can find reality-based and generally dependable reporting – particularly during crises such as the one taking place close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
An Uncertain Position Amid a Business Struggle
But the news network, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a uncertain state as two giant media corporations battle over ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the future of CNN has been drawn into a high-stakes game of corporate ownership, rather than as a question of what helps the information-seeking public.
“This represents another instance of the fundamental flaws with roots in decades of regulatory actions,” stated Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy at the Penn.
The debate about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a more important point.
“The narrative is crafted as a financial tale with influential figures as the protagonists, but there is hardly any discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard said.
The Complicating Factor: The Former President
This situation is made more complex by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his primary “fake news” adversary.
Remember the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his team's disciplinary revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in White House briefings.
Trump now says that the network requires new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will protect him from negative coverage and examination. That is part of why he appears to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.
He has grounds 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 installed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that historic news network.
A Possibility of Further Instability
Notably, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a standalone company. This might be a relief to many at the network, but it’s far from a secure position. That setup could set up CNN for another sale. There is no finish line.
If you ask Timothy Wu, a lot of this is illegal, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance stated that anti-trust laws should block both deals.
“Each proposed deal would be bad for the country, and both should be challenged by anti-trust authorities,” Wu argued.
The Core Challenge and a Path Forward
Regardless of the resolution in this situation, the larger issue remains.
“Our current system is a profoundly system hostile to democracy, but we ought not succumb to the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard emphasized. Government actions – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this overly commercial monster, and revised policy decisions can fix it.
Will that happen in an era where the head of the FCC won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Overhaul is a distant prospect now, but that should not imply it will be impossible forever.
Measures that strengthen independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, fund public media, and prevent the concentration of media power in a handful of hands are not only possible – they are essential for a healthy democracy.
In the world of media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations such as CNN cannot be pieces in the most recent merger game.
