Late Thursday, as rumors swirled regarding a shooting at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins used social media, pointing out the conflicting information and guiding the public to her network’s 9pm newscast.
Even though the network is hardly a flawless news source, her statement resonated to many. It is one of the organizations where there exists fact-based and mostly dependable reporting – notably during crises such as the one unfolding in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious Position Amid a Business Struggle
Yet the news network, now middle-aged, finds itself in a vulnerable position as two giant media conglomerates battle over ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
No matter the result, the destiny of CNN has been drawn into a major game of business acquisition, instead of as a question of what serves the information-seeking public.
“Here is one more case of the deep structural problems with origins in many years of regulatory actions,” said Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the University of Pennsylvania.
The speculation about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – could it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a more important point.
“It is often framed as a business story with influential figures as the central actors, but there is hardly any discussion of the common good,” Pickard said.
The Additional Element: Political Influence
The network's predicament is further muddied by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his main “fake news” foe.
Recall the cries of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his administration's retaliatory suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in White House briefings.
Trump now asserts that CNN needs new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will insulate him from journalistic oversight. That is a factor in why he appears to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.
There is a basis 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, parent of CBS News, also recently placed the conservative Bari Weiss, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that venerable news network.
A Future of More Instability
Significantly, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a separate entity. This might be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s far from a safe harbor. That structure could pave the way for CNN for another sale. It never ends.
According to Timothy Wu, a lot of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that anti-trust laws should block both deals.
“Each proposed deal would be detrimental to the country, and both should be opposed by regulators,” Wu recently wrote.
The Core Challenge and a Potential Solution
Regardless of the resolution with this particular battle, the underlying crisis remains.
“What we have now is a highly structure that undermines democracy, but we must resist learned helplessness,” Pickard emphasized. Government actions – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this hyper-commercialized monster, and new policy decisions can address it.
Will that happen in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair will not confirm that the agency is independent? Change is very unlikely now, but that is not to say it will never happen.
Policies that support independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, fund public media, and outlaw the concentration of media power in too few hands are not only possible – they are vital for a robust democracy.
Regarding media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations like CNN shouldn’t be tools in the latest merger game.
