On Thursday evening, while unconfirmed reports spread concerning an incident at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, pointing out the conflicting information and pointing viewers to her network’s 9pm newscast.
Although it is by no means a perfect news source, her message seemed accurate to many. It is one of the organizations where one can locate fact-based and largely dependable reporting – particularly during breaking news situations like the one developing close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
An Uncertain Position During a Business Battle
But CNN, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a precarious state as two massive media corporations vie 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 mergers and acquisitions, rather than as a question of what helps the information-seeking public.
“Here is one more case of the deep structural problems with origins in many years of regulatory actions,” stated Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Penn.
The debate about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a broader point.
“It gets presented as a corporate drama with influential figures as the central actors, but there is scant discussion of the public interest,” Pickard said.
The Complicating Element: Donald Trump
The network's predicament is complicated by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his main “fake news” antagonist.
Remember the chants of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his administration's retaliatory withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in White House briefings.
Trump now claims that the network requires new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will shield him from journalistic oversight. That is a factor in why he seems to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.
He has grounds to like that suitor more. For one thing, it is controlled by David Ellison, son of the Trump-friendly Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
Paramount, parent of CBS News, also recently appointed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that venerable news network.
An Outcome of More Instability
Notably, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a separate entity. Such a move could be a relief to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a secure position. That arrangement could set up CNN for another sale. There is no finish line.
In the view of Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is illegal, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance stated that competition laws should prohibit both deals.
“Both acquisition attempts would be harmful to the country, and both should be contested by regulators,” Wu argued.
The Fundamental Problem and a Path Forward
Regardless of the resolution regarding CNN, the larger issue endures.
“What we have now is a profoundly anti-democratic system, but we shouldn’t give in to learned helplessness,” Pickard emphasized. Regulatory choices – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this profit-obsessed monster, and new policy decisions can tackle 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 doesn’t mean it will be impossible forever.
Initiatives that support independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, fund public media, and prevent the accumulation of media power in a handful of hands are achievable – they are essential for a robust democracy.
When it comes to media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations like CNN must not be pieces in the newest corporate chess match.
