This past Thursday night, amid swirling speculation concerning the Brown University gunman, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, noting the confusion and guiding the public to her channel's 9pm newscast.
Even though the network is hardly a impeccable news source, her message rang true for a lot of people. It stands as one of the broadcasters where there exists grounded and largely trustworthy reporting – particularly during breaking news situations like the one taking place close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Vulnerable Position Amid a Business Battle
But CNN, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a precarious situation as two giant media conglomerates vie for ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the future of CNN has become part of a major game of corporate ownership, not as a question of what helps the news-consuming public.
“Here is one more case of the fundamental flaws with roots in many years of policy decisions,” said Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the Pennsylvania University.
The speculation about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a broader point.
“It gets presented as a financial tale with powerful individuals as the central actors, but there is hardly any discussion of the public interest,” Pickard said.
The Complicating Factor: Donald Trump
The CNN scenario is complicated by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his main “fake news” antagonist.
Think back to the chants of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his administration's retaliatory withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in official meetings.
Trump now asserts that the network requires new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will protect him from journalistic oversight. That is a factor in why he seems to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.
There is a basis to like that suitor more. For one thing, it is led by David Ellison, son of the pro-Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
Paramount, owner of CBS News, also recently placed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that venerable news network.
A Possibility of More Turmoil
Notably, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a independent unit. This might be a relief to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a secure position. That structure could set up CNN for yet another acquisition. It never ends.
In the view of Timothy Wu, much of this is illegal, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance stated that competition laws should disallow both deals.
“Both acquisition attempts would be harmful to the country, and both should be challenged by regulators,” Wu recently wrote.
The Bigger Issue and a Potential Solution
No matter the outcome regarding CNN, the underlying crisis remains.
“What we have now is a highly system hostile to democracy, but we shouldn’t give in to a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard said. Government actions – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this hyper-commercialized monster, and revised policy decisions can address it.
Is this likely in an era where the head of the FCC will not confirm that the agency is independent? Reform is very unlikely now, but that doesn’t mean it will be impossible forever.
Policies that support independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, finance public media, and prohibit the consolidation of media power in too few hands are within reach – they are necessary for a robust democracy.
In the world of media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations including CNN cannot be pieces in the newest merger game.
