This past Thursday night, amid swirling speculation concerning an incident at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, pointing out the conflicting information and pointing viewers to her channel's 9pm newscast.
While the network is hardly a impeccable news source, her words rang true to many. It remains one of the organizations where one can locate reality-based and largely reliable reporting – especially during fast-moving events like the one developing in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Vulnerable Situation Amid a High-Stakes Struggle
However CNN, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a vulnerable position as two massive media corporations compete for ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
No matter the result, the destiny of CNN has been drawn into a high-risk 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 professor of media policy at the University of Pennsylvania.
The speculation about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a broader point.
“The narrative is crafted as a financial tale with powerful individuals as the protagonists, but there is very little discussion of the common good,” Pickard added.
A Further Element: Political Influence
The network's predicament is complicated by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his chief “fake news” antagonist.
Remember the cries of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his administration's retaliatory revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in press briefings.
Trump now claims 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 one reason why he appears to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.
There is a basis to prefer that bidder more. For one thing, it is run by David Ellison, son of the Trump-friendly Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
The company, parent of CBS News, also recently installed the conservative Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that storied news network.
A Future of More Turmoil
It is important to note, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a independent unit. That would be a relief to many at the network, but it’s far from a guarantee of stability. That arrangement could position CNN for yet another acquisition. It never ends.
If you ask Timothy Wu, much of this is illegal, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance stated 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 argued.
The Fundamental Issue and a Way Ahead
Regardless of the resolution with this particular battle, the bigger problem remains.
“The present media landscape is a very anti-democratic system, but we ought not succumb to a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard noted. Policy decisions – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this profit-obsessed monster, and new policy decisions can tackle it.
Is this likely in an era where the head of the FCC refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Reform is very unlikely now, but that should not imply it will be impossible forever.
Policies that bolster independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, subsidize public media, and prevent the accumulation of media power in too few hands are within reach – they are vital for a robust democracy.
In the world of media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations like CNN must not be pawns in the newest merger game.
