This past Thursday night, while unconfirmed reports spread concerning the Brown University gunman, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, highlighting the uncertainty and pointing viewers to her network’s 9pm newscast.
Although the network is hardly a flawless news source, her words rang true to many. It stands as one of the outlets where there exists grounded and largely reliable reporting – particularly during crises such as the one taking place in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.
An Uncertain Position Amid a High-Stakes Tug-of-War
However CNN, now middle-aged, finds itself in a uncertain state 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-risk game of business acquisition, instead of as a question of what serves the news-consuming public.
“Here is one more case of the deep structural problems with origins in decades of policy decisions,” noted Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy at the Penn.
The debate about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a larger point.
“It is often framed as a corporate drama with powerful individuals as the protagonists, but there is hardly any discussion of the common good,” Pickard said.
A Further Layer: Donald Trump
This situation is further muddied by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his primary “fake news” adversary.
Recall the chants of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his team's disciplinary withdrawal 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 criticism and scrutiny. That is a factor in why he seems to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
There is a basis to like that company more. For one thing, it is led by David Ellison, son of the pro-Trump 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 lead editor of that historic news network.
A Possibility of More Uncertainty
Significantly, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a separate entity. This might be a relief to many at the network, but it’s hardly a safe harbor. That setup could position CNN for a future sale. The cycle continues.
According to Timothy Wu, much of this is against the law, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance stated that competition laws should disallow both deals.
“Either merger would be bad for the country, and both should be challenged by regulators,” Wu stated.
The Core Challenge and a Path Forward
Regardless of the resolution in this situation, the larger issue persists.
“What we have now is a profoundly anti-democratic system, but we ought not succumb to the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard said. Policy decisions – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this hyper-commercialized monster, and different policy decisions can fix it.
Will that happen in an era where the top communications regulator won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Reform is a distant prospect now, but that is not to say it will be impossible forever.
Policies that bolster independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, subsidize public media, and prohibit the concentration of media power in a handful of hands are within reach – they are vital for a healthy democracy.
When it comes to media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations including CNN shouldn’t be tools in the latest acquisition battle.
