This past Thursday night, while unconfirmed reports spread concerning the Brown University gunman, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, highlighting the uncertainty and guiding the public to her network’s 9pm newscast.
While the network is hardly a perfect news source, her message seemed accurate for numerous observers. It stands as one of the broadcasters where one can locate fact-based and largely trustworthy reporting – notably during crises such as the one unfolding in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Vulnerable Position Amid a Corporate Tug-of-War
But the news network, now 45 years old, finds itself in a vulnerable state as two massive media corporations vie for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the destiny of CNN has become part of a high-stakes game of mergers and acquisitions, not as a question of what helps the news-consuming public.
“This is yet another example of the deep structural problems with roots in many years of governmental choices,” stated Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the University of Pennsylvania.
The speculation about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – could it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a broader point.
“It gets presented as a corporate drama with key players as the central actors, but there is hardly any discussion of the common good,” Pickard added.
A Further Element: The Former President
The CNN scenario is further muddied by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his chief “fake news” foe.
Recall the cries of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his administration's retaliatory revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in official meetings.
Trump now says that CNN needs new ownership. Many see this as a desire for ownership that will shield him from negative coverage and examination. That is one reason why he seems to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
Trump has reason to like that bidder more. For one thing, it is run 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, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that storied news network.
An Outcome of Further Uncertainty
Notably, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a separate entity. Such a move could be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s far from a safe harbor. That structure could set up CNN for a future sale. The cycle continues.
In the view of Timothy Wu, a lot of this is illegal, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance recently argued that competition laws should block both deals.
“Each proposed deal would be bad for the country, and both should be challenged by anti-trust authorities,” Wu recently wrote.
The Fundamental Issue and a Way Ahead
Regardless of the resolution regarding CNN, the bigger problem endures.
“What we have now is a highly anti-democratic system, but we ought not succumb to a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard said. Regulatory choices – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this hyper-commercialized monster, and new policy decisions can address it.
Can reform occur in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Reform is highly improbable now, but that doesn’t mean it will not happen in the future.
Initiatives that bolster independent news organizations, aid local journalism, finance public media, and prohibit the consolidation of media power in a handful of hands are not only possible – they are essential for a functioning democracy.
When it comes to media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations including CNN cannot be tools in the latest merger game.
