On Thursday evening, amid swirling speculation about a shooting at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins took to social media, pointing out the conflicting information and guiding the public to her network’s 9pm newscast.
Even though the network is hardly a impeccable news source, her message rang true for a lot of people. It is one of the organizations where there exists fact-based and largely trustworthy reporting – particularly during fast-moving events like the one developing close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious State During a High-Stakes Tug-of-War
However CNN, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a uncertain situation as two giant media conglomerates vie for ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the destiny of CNN has been drawn into a major game of business acquisition, not as a question of what benefits the news-consuming public.
“This represents another instance of the deep structural problems with roots in decades of policy decisions,” stated Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the University of Pennsylvania.
The speculation about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a larger point.
“It gets presented as a financial tale with powerful individuals as the protagonists, but there is scant discussion of the common good,” Pickard said.
The Complicating Factor: Political Influence
This situation is made more complex by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his primary “fake news” foe.
Think back to the chants of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his administration’s punitive revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in White House briefings.
Trump now asserts that CNN needs 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 favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
Trump has reason to prefer that bidder more. For one thing, it is led by David Ellison, son of the Trump-friendly Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
Paramount, owner of CBS News, also recently appointed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that storied news network.
A Future of More Instability
Significantly, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a independent unit. That would be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s far from a safe harbor. That arrangement could pave the way for CNN for a future sale. The cycle continues.
If you ask Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance recently argued that competition laws should block both deals.
“Either merger would be bad for the country, and both should be contested by anti-trust authorities,” Wu argued.
The Core Issue and a Path Forward
Whatever happens in this situation, the larger issue persists.
“The present media landscape is a highly anti-democratic system, but we must resist a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard said. Policy decisions – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this overly commercial monster, and different policy decisions can address it.
Can reform occur in an era where the top communications regulator won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Reform is highly improbable now, but that should not imply it will never happen.
Initiatives that support independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, subsidize public media, and outlaw the accumulation of media power in too few hands are not only possible – they are vital for a functioning democracy.
Regarding media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations such as CNN cannot be pawns in the latest acquisition battle.
