On Thursday evening, as rumors swirled about a shooting at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins used social media, highlighting the uncertainty and pointing viewers to her channel's 9pm newscast.
Although the network is hardly a flawless news source, her message resonated to many. It stands as one of the broadcasters where one can locate fact-based and mostly reliable reporting – especially during fast-moving events like the one developing close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Vulnerable Situation During a Business Tug-of-War
Yet the news network, now middle-aged, finds itself in a vulnerable position as two huge media conglomerates battle over ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Regardless of who wins, the destiny of CNN has become part of a high-risk game of mergers and acquisitions, instead of as a question of what serves the information-seeking public.
“Here is one more case of the fundamental flaws with origins in many years of policy decisions,” stated Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the Pennsylvania University.
The debate about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a broader point.
“It is often framed as a business story with key players as the main characters, but there is hardly any discussion of the public interest,” Pickard said.
The Complicating Element: The Former President
The CNN scenario is complicated by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his chief “fake news” antagonist.
Recall the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his team's disciplinary suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in White House briefings.
Trump now asserts that CNN needs new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will protect him from negative coverage and examination. That is a factor in why he seems to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.
Trump has reason to like that suitor more. For one thing, it is controlled by David Ellison, son of the pro-Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
Paramount, parent of CBS News, also recently placed the conservative Bari Weiss, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that venerable news network.
An Outcome of Continued Uncertainty
Notably, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a independent unit. This might be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s hardly a safe harbor. That structure could position CNN for another sale. It never ends.
If you ask Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is against the law, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that competition laws should prohibit both deals.
“Each proposed deal would be detrimental to the country, and both should be challenged by anti-trust authorities,” Wu argued.
The Core Problem and a Path Forward
Regardless of the resolution in this situation, the bigger problem persists.
“Our current system is a profoundly system hostile to democracy, but we shouldn’t give in to the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard noted. Policy decisions – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this hyper-commercialized monster, and revised 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 is not to say it will not happen in the future.
Measures that support independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, fund public media, and prevent the accumulation of media power in a handful of hands are within reach – they are vital for a functioning democracy.
When it comes to media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations like CNN must not be pawns in the most recent acquisition battle.
