Late Thursday, as rumors swirled about a shooting at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins took to social media, highlighting the uncertainty and guiding the public to her channel's 9pm newscast.
While it is by no means a flawless news source, her words seemed accurate for numerous observers. It remains one of the organizations where there exists fact-based and generally trustworthy reporting – especially during crises such as the one developing close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Vulnerable Position During a High-Stakes Struggle
However the news network, now middle-aged, finds itself in a uncertain state as two massive media corporations battle over ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the fate of CNN has turned into a high-stakes game of business acquisition, not as a question of what helps the information-seeking public.
“Here is one more case of the profound systemic issues with origins in decades of governmental choices,” stated Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy at the Penn.
The conjecture about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a broader point.
“It is often framed as a corporate drama with key players as the central actors, but there is hardly any discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard explained.
A Further Factor: The Former President
The network's predicament is made more complex by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his primary “fake news” adversary.
Think back to the chants of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his team's disciplinary suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his clashes with Collins in White House briefings.
Trump now claims that CNN needs new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will shield him from negative coverage and examination. That is part of why he seems to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.
He has grounds to like that bidder more. For one thing, it is run by David Ellison, son of the Trump-friendly Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
The company, owner of CBS News, also recently installed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that storied news network.
An Outcome of Continued Turmoil
Notably, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a separate entity. Such a move could be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s far from a safe harbor. That arrangement could position CNN for a future sale. It never ends.
According to Timothy Wu, a great deal 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 detrimental to the country, and both should be contested by regulators,” Wu recently wrote.
The Fundamental Issue and a Path Forward
Regardless of the resolution in this situation, the underlying crisis persists.
“The present media landscape is a highly structure that undermines democracy, but we must resist a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard noted. Government actions – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this overly commercial monster, and different policy decisions can fix it.
Will that happen in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Overhaul is a distant prospect now, but that is not to say it will never happen.
Initiatives that support independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, finance public media, and prohibit the concentration of media power in a handful of hands are within reach – they are vital for a robust democracy.
When it comes to media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations like CNN shouldn’t be pawns in the latest merger game.
