This past Thursday night, amid swirling speculation concerning the Brown University gunman, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, highlighting the uncertainty and pointing viewers to her channel's 9pm newscast.
Even though CNN is certainly not a flawless news source, her statement seemed accurate for numerous observers. It is one of the outlets where one can locate fact-based and mostly dependable reporting – notably during fast-moving events like the one unfolding near a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Vulnerable State During a Business Struggle
However the news network, now 45 years old, finds itself in a uncertain position as two huge media conglomerates battle over ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
No matter the result, the future of CNN has turned into a major game of mergers and acquisitions, rather than as a question of what serves the news-consuming public.
“This represents another instance of the deep structural problems with roots in many years of governmental choices,” noted Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Penn.
The debate about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a more important point.
“It is often framed as a financial tale with key players as the protagonists, but there is scant discussion of the public interest,” Pickard explained.
The Additional Layer: Political Influence
The network's predicament is complicated by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his primary “fake news” antagonist.
Recall the cries of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his team's disciplinary suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his clashes with Collins in press briefings.
Trump now claims that the network requires new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will shield him from journalistic oversight. That is a factor in why he seems to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.
There is a basis to like that company more. For one thing, it is led by David Ellison, son of the ally of Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
The company, owner of CBS News, also recently placed the conservative Bari Weiss, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that storied news network.
An Outcome of Continued Turmoil
It is important to note, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a standalone company. That would be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s hardly a secure position. That structure could set up CNN for another sale. It never ends.
In the view of Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance stated that anti-trust laws should block both deals.
“Both acquisition attempts would be harmful to the country, and both should be contested by the government,” Wu recently wrote.
The Fundamental Issue and a Potential Solution
Regardless of the resolution with this particular battle, the bigger problem remains.
“What we have now is a highly anti-democratic system, but we must resist a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard noted. Regulatory choices – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this profit-obsessed monster, and revised policy decisions can fix it.
Will that happen in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair will not confirm that the agency is independent? Change is highly improbable now, but that is not to say it will not happen in the future.
Initiatives that bolster independent news organizations, aid local journalism, subsidize public media, and prohibit the concentration of media power in very few hands are within reach – they are essential for a robust democracy.
When it comes to media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations like CNN shouldn’t be pawns in the most recent merger game.
