This past Thursday night, as rumors swirled concerning a shooting at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, highlighting the uncertainty and guiding the public to her network’s 9pm newscast.
Even though it is by no means a impeccable news source, her message rang true to many. It remains one of the broadcasters where there exists grounded and largely reliable reporting – especially during fast-moving events like the one unfolding close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Vulnerable State Amid a Business Tug-of-War
Yet CNN, now 45 years old, finds itself in a uncertain situation as two giant media corporations compete for ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
Regardless of who wins, the destiny of CNN has been drawn into a high-stakes game of corporate ownership, instead of as a question of what serves the information-seeking public.
“Here is one more case of the fundamental flaws with roots in many years of governmental choices,” said Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the University of Pennsylvania.
The debate about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a more important point.
“It gets presented as a financial tale with key players as the central actors, but there is scant discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard added.
The Complicating Layer: Political Influence
This situation is complicated by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his main “fake news” adversary.
Recall the cries of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his team's disciplinary revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in official meetings.
Trump now claims that the network requires new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will insulate him from journalistic oversight. That is part of why he seems to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.
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.
The company, parent of CBS News, also recently installed the conservative Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that venerable news network.
A Future of More Uncertainty
Notably, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a standalone company. Such a move could be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s far from a secure position. That arrangement could position CNN for another sale. There is no finish line.
According to Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that anti-trust laws should block both deals.
“Each proposed deal would be harmful to the country, and both should be challenged by anti-trust authorities,” Wu recently wrote.
The Core Problem and a Way Ahead
Regardless of the resolution regarding CNN, the underlying crisis remains.
“The present media landscape is a highly anti-democratic system, but we shouldn’t give in to the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard said. Policy decisions – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this hyper-commercialized monster, and new policy decisions can fix it.
Is this likely in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Overhaul is highly improbable now, but that should not imply it will be impossible forever.
Initiatives that strengthen independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, subsidize public media, and outlaw the accumulation of media power in a handful of hands are achievable – they are vital for a functioning democracy.
When it comes to media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations like CNN cannot be pieces in the most recent acquisition battle.
