On Thursday evening, as rumors swirled concerning an incident at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins used social media, noting the confusion and directing people to her channel's 9pm newscast.
Although it is by no means a flawless news source, her words rang true to many. It remains one of the outlets where one can locate grounded and mostly reliable reporting – notably during breaking news situations such as the one developing near a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious Position During a Business Tug-of-War
Yet the news network, now 45 years old, finds itself in a precarious state as two massive media corporations vie for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
No matter the result, the destiny of CNN has become part of a major game of business acquisition, rather than as a question of what benefits the news-consuming public.
“This represents another instance of the deep structural problems with origins in decades of regulatory actions,” said Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy at the Penn.
The conjecture about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a broader point.
“It is often framed as a corporate drama with influential figures as the central actors, but there is scant discussion of the public interest,” Pickard explained.
A Further Factor: The Former President
The CNN scenario is made more complex by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his chief “fake news” foe.
Recall the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his administration’s punitive suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in press briefings.
Trump now asserts that the network requires new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will insulate him from criticism and scrutiny. That is a factor in why he appears to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.
He has grounds to prefer that suitor more. For one thing, it is led by David Ellison, son of the ally of Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
Paramount, parent of CBS News, also recently installed the conservative Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that venerable news network.
A Possibility of Further Turmoil
Significantly, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a standalone company. Such a move could be a relief to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a safe harbor. That arrangement could pave the way for CNN for yet another acquisition. It never ends.
If you ask Timothy Wu, much of this is against the law, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that anti-trust laws should prohibit both deals.
“Either merger would be harmful to the country, and both should be opposed by the government,” Wu stated.
The Fundamental Challenge and a Way Ahead
No matter the outcome in this situation, the underlying crisis persists.
“Our current system is a highly system hostile to democracy, but we ought not succumb to learned helplessness,” Pickard emphasized. Policy decisions – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this overly commercial monster, and different policy decisions can fix it.
Will that happen in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair will not confirm that the agency is independent? Reform is a distant prospect now, but that should not imply it will be impossible forever.
Initiatives that bolster independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, subsidize public media, and outlaw the concentration of media power in very few hands are not only possible – they are vital for a robust democracy.
In the world of media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations like CNN shouldn’t be pawns in the most recent merger game.
