This past Thursday night, amid swirling speculation concerning a shooting at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins used social media, noting the confusion and guiding the public to her channel's 9pm newscast.
While CNN is certainly not a flawless news source, her message resonated for a lot of people. It stands as one of the outlets where one can locate reality-based and mostly reliable reporting – especially during breaking news situations such as the one taking place close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Vulnerable Position During a Business Battle
However the news network, now middle-aged, finds itself in a uncertain situation as two massive media empires compete for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
No matter the result, the destiny of CNN has become part of a high-stakes game of corporate ownership, rather than as a question of what serves the news-consuming public.
“This represents another instance of the profound systemic issues with roots in decades of governmental choices,” noted Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the University of Pennsylvania.
The conjecture about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – could it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a more important point.
“It gets presented as a corporate drama with influential figures as the main characters, but there is very little discussion of the common good,” Pickard said.
The Complicating Factor: Political Influence
The CNN scenario is complicated by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his main “fake news” adversary.
Recall the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his administration’s punitive suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in press briefings.
Trump now says that CNN needs new ownership. Many see this as a desire for ownership that will insulate him from criticism and scrutiny. That is one reason why he appears to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.
Trump has reason to favor that bidder more. For one thing, it is controlled by David Ellison, son of the Trump-friendly Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
Paramount, parent of CBS News, also recently placed the conservative Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that storied news network.
A Future of More Uncertainty
It is important to note, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a standalone company. That would be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a guarantee of stability. That setup could set up CNN for yet another acquisition. There is no finish line.
In the view of Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance stated that anti-trust laws should prohibit both deals.
“Either merger would be harmful to the country, and both should be challenged by anti-trust authorities,” Wu stated.
The Core Issue and a Path Forward
No matter the outcome with this particular battle, the larger issue endures.
“The present media landscape is a highly anti-democratic system, but we must resist the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard said. Regulatory choices – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this profit-obsessed monster, and revised policy decisions can address it.
Is this likely in an era where the head of the FCC refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Reform is highly improbable now, but that should not imply it will be impossible forever.
Policies that strengthen independent news organizations, aid local journalism, finance public media, and prohibit the consolidation of media power in too few hands are achievable – 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 tools in the latest merger game.
