This past Thursday night, while unconfirmed reports spread concerning a shooting at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins used social media, noting the confusion and pointing viewers to her channel's 9pm newscast.
While the network is hardly a flawless news source, her statement rang true to many. It remains one of the organizations where there exists reality-based and mostly trustworthy reporting – especially during breaking news situations such as the one developing in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Vulnerable Position During a High-Stakes Struggle
But CNN, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a precarious position as two huge media corporations compete for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the future of CNN has been drawn into a high-risk game of corporate ownership, not as a question of what benefits the information-seeking public.
“This represents another instance of the profound systemic issues with origins in decades of governmental choices,” stated Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy at the University of Pennsylvania.
The speculation about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a more important point.
“The narrative is crafted as a financial tale with influential figures as the central actors, but there is very little discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard said.
The Additional Factor: Political Influence
This situation is complicated by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his primary “fake news” antagonist.
Think back to the cries of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his team's disciplinary revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his clashes with Collins in official meetings.
Trump now says that the network requires new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will insulate him from journalistic oversight. That is a factor in why he seems to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
He has grounds to like that company more. For one thing, it is controlled by David Ellison, son of the ally of Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
Paramount, parent of CBS News, also recently installed the conservative Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that venerable news network.
A Possibility of Continued Instability
It is important to note, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a independent unit. Such a move could be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a guarantee of stability. That structure could position CNN for yet another acquisition. The cycle continues.
In the view of Timothy Wu, much of this is illegal, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance stated that anti-trust laws should block both deals.
“Both acquisition attempts would be detrimental to the country, and both should be contested by anti-trust authorities,” Wu argued.
The Bigger Problem and a Path Forward
Regardless of the resolution regarding CNN, the bigger problem endures.
“The present media landscape is a very system hostile to democracy, but we must resist a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard emphasized. Regulatory choices – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this overly commercial monster, and new policy decisions can address it.
Will that happen in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Reform is a distant prospect now, but that should not imply it will not happen in the future.
Policies that support independent news organizations, aid local journalism, fund public media, and prohibit the consolidation of media power in very few hands are within reach – they are essential for a healthy democracy.
In the world of media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations such as CNN must not be pawns in the most recent merger game.
