On Thursday evening, while unconfirmed reports spread regarding a shooting at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins used social media, highlighting the uncertainty and directing people to her network’s 9pm newscast.
While it is by no means a impeccable news source, her words seemed accurate to many. It remains one of the organizations where you can find fact-based and generally reliable reporting – particularly during crises such as the one developing near a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious State During a Business Tug-of-War
But CNN, now middle-aged, finds itself in a precarious situation as two giant media empires battle over ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
Regardless of who wins, the future of CNN has become part of a major game of mergers and acquisitions, rather than as a question of what helps the news-consuming public.
“This is yet another example of the deep structural problems with origins in decades of policy decisions,” noted Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Pennsylvania University.
The speculation about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – could it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a larger point.
“It is often framed as a financial tale with powerful individuals as the central actors, but there is hardly any discussion of the common good,” Pickard explained.
The Complicating Element: Political Influence
This situation is made more complex by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his chief “fake news” adversary.
Recall the chants of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his administration’s punitive 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. Many see this as a desire for ownership that will protect him from criticism and scrutiny. That is a factor in why he seems to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
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, owner of CBS News, also recently installed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that storied news network.
An Outcome of Further Instability
Significantly, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a independent unit. That would be a relief to many at the network, but it’s hardly a safe harbor. That arrangement could position CNN for another sale. It never ends.
According to Timothy Wu, much of this is illegal, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance stated that anti-trust laws should disallow both deals.
“Each proposed deal would be detrimental to the country, and both should be opposed by anti-trust authorities,” Wu argued.
The Fundamental Problem and a Way Ahead
No matter the outcome regarding CNN, the underlying crisis persists.
“What we have now is a very anti-democratic system, but we shouldn’t give in to learned helplessness,” Pickard said. Regulatory choices – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this profit-obsessed monster, and revised policy decisions can address it.
Is this likely in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair will not confirm that the agency is independent? Reform is a distant prospect now, but that is not to say it will never happen.
Initiatives that bolster independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, finance public media, and prohibit the concentration of media power in very few hands are achievable – they are necessary for a healthy democracy.
In the world of media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations like CNN cannot be pieces in the newest merger game.
