On Thursday evening, amid swirling speculation about the Brown University gunman, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins used social media, pointing out the conflicting information and directing people to her network’s 9pm newscast.
Even though the network is hardly a perfect news source, her words seemed accurate to many. It is one of the outlets where there exists reality-based and mostly reliable reporting – especially during fast-moving events such as the one taking place in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Vulnerable Situation During a High-Stakes Battle
But CNN, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a uncertain state as two giant 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 major game of business acquisition, not as a question of what serves the information-seeking public.
“This is yet another example of the profound systemic issues with origins in many years of policy decisions,” noted Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the University of Pennsylvania.
The conjecture about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a broader point.
“It is often framed as a business story with influential figures as the central actors, but there is very little discussion of the common good,” Pickard said.
The Complicating Factor: The Former President
This situation is further muddied by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his primary “fake news” foe.
Think back to the chants of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his administration's retaliatory suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in official meetings.
Trump now asserts that the network requires new ownership. Many see this as a desire for ownership that will insulate him from negative coverage and examination. That is a factor in why he seems to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
Trump has reason to prefer that suitor more. For one thing, it is run 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, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that storied news network.
An Outcome of Continued Instability
Notably, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a standalone company. This might be a relief to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a safe harbor. That setup could set up CNN for yet another acquisition. It never ends.
In the view of Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is against the law, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that competition laws should prohibit both deals.
“Each proposed deal would be bad for the country, and both should be opposed by anti-trust authorities,” Wu stated.
The Core Problem and a Path Forward
Regardless of the resolution with this particular battle, the larger issue remains.
“What we have now is a profoundly structure that undermines democracy, but we must resist the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard noted. Government actions – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this hyper-commercialized monster, and revised policy decisions can fix it.
Will that happen in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Reform is highly improbable now, but that doesn’t mean it will not happen in the future.
Initiatives that bolster independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, subsidize public media, and prohibit the consolidation of media power in very few hands are not only possible – they are necessary for a functioning democracy.
Regarding media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations such as CNN cannot be pieces in the most recent corporate chess match.
