This past Thursday night, amid swirling speculation concerning the Brown University gunman, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins posted on 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 words rang true to many. It stands as one of the organizations where one can locate fact-based and generally reliable reporting – especially during fast-moving events like the one unfolding close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious Position Amid a Business Tug-of-War
Yet the news network, now 45 years old, finds itself in a uncertain situation as two massive media conglomerates compete for ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
No matter the result, the destiny of CNN has become part of a high-stakes game of corporate ownership, instead of as a question of what serves the information-seeking public.
“Here is one more case of the fundamental flaws with roots in many years of regulatory actions,” stated Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Penn.
The speculation about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a larger point.
“The narrative is crafted as a business story with influential figures as the protagonists, but there is scant discussion of the public interest,” Pickard added.
The Complicating Layer: Political Influence
This situation is further muddied by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his chief “fake news” antagonist.
Recall the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his administration's retaliatory suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in White House briefings.
Trump now asserts that the network requires new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will shield him from criticism and scrutiny. That is part of why he seems to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.
There is a basis to like that suitor more. For one thing, it is run by David Ellison, son of the pro-Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
The company, owner of CBS News, also recently appointed the conservative Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that historic news network.
A Possibility of More Instability
It is important to note, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a separate entity. Such a move could be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s hardly a safe harbor. That structure could set up CNN for another sale. The cycle continues.
In the view of Timothy Wu, a lot of this is illegal, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that anti-trust laws should block both deals.
“Each proposed deal would be detrimental to the country, and both should be opposed by the government,” Wu argued.
The Fundamental Challenge and a Potential Solution
Regardless of the resolution with this particular battle, the larger issue endures.
“The present media landscape is a very structure that undermines democracy, but we shouldn’t give in to the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard noted. Policy decisions – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this profit-obsessed monster, and new policy decisions can fix it.
Will that happen in an era where the head of the FCC refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Change is a distant prospect now, but that should not imply it will never happen.
Initiatives that bolster independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, fund public media, and prevent the accumulation of media power in a handful of hands are achievable – they are essential for a healthy democracy.
Regarding media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations like CNN shouldn’t be pieces in the latest acquisition battle.
