This past Thursday night, amid swirling speculation regarding 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.
Even though it is by no means a flawless news source, her message rang true to many. It is one of the outlets where you can find reality-based and largely dependable reporting – especially during breaking news situations such as the one unfolding in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Vulnerable Position During a Corporate Battle
But the news network, now middle-aged, finds itself in a uncertain position as two huge media empires compete for ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
Regardless of who wins, the fate 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 deep structural problems with roots in many years of regulatory actions,” said Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Pennsylvania University.
The speculation about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – could it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a more important point.
“The narrative is crafted as a business story with influential figures as the central actors, but there is scant discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard explained.
The Complicating Element: The Former President
The CNN scenario is further muddied by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his primary “fake news” antagonist.
Recall the chants of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his administration’s punitive revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in White House briefings.
Trump now asserts that CNN needs new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will protect him from criticism and scrutiny. That is part of why he seems to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.
There is a basis to favor that company more. For one thing, it is led by David Ellison, son of the Trump-friendly Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
Paramount, owner of CBS News, also recently installed the conservative Bari Weiss, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that venerable news network.
A Future of Further Uncertainty
Significantly, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a separate entity. Such a move could be a relief to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a safe harbor. That setup could set up CNN for a future sale. The cycle continues.
In the view of Timothy Wu, a lot of this is illegal, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that anti-trust laws should prohibit both deals.
“Both acquisition attempts would be detrimental to the country, and both should be contested by the government,” Wu argued.
The Bigger Challenge and a Potential Solution
Regardless of the resolution regarding CNN, the larger issue persists.
“Our current system is a very anti-democratic system, but we ought not succumb to the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard emphasized. Policy decisions – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this overly commercial monster, and revised policy decisions can address it.
Can reform occur in an era where the head of the FCC refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Change is highly improbable 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 too few hands are achievable – they are vital for a robust democracy.
In the world of media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations such as CNN shouldn’t be pawns in the newest merger game.
