This past Thursday night, amid swirling speculation regarding the Brown University gunman, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, highlighting the uncertainty and guiding the public to her channel's 9pm newscast.
While it is by no means a perfect news source, her message resonated for a lot of people. It remains one of the broadcasters where there exists fact-based and generally trustworthy reporting – especially during fast-moving events like the one developing close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Vulnerable Position Amid a Business Struggle
But CNN, now middle-aged, finds itself in a uncertain position as two massive media conglomerates battle over ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the destiny of CNN has been drawn into a high-risk game of corporate ownership, instead of 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,” stated Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the Pennsylvania University.
The conjecture about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a larger point.
“It is often framed as a financial tale with influential figures as the main characters, but there is hardly any discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard explained.
A Further Layer: The Former President
The network's predicament is made more complex by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his main “fake news” adversary.
Remember 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 press briefings.
Trump now claims that the network requires new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will protect him from criticism and scrutiny. That is one reason why he seems to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
He has grounds to prefer that bidder more. For one thing, it is controlled by David Ellison, son of the pro-Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
The company, owner of CBS News, also recently appointed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that venerable news network.
A Future of More Instability
It is important to note, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a separate entity. That would be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a secure position. That structure could position CNN for yet another acquisition. There is no finish line.
In the view of Timothy Wu, much of this is against the law, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance stated that competition laws should disallow both deals.
“Either merger would be harmful to the country, and both should be opposed by regulators,” Wu stated.
The Bigger Problem and a Path Forward
No matter the outcome regarding CNN, the bigger problem endures.
“The present media landscape is a profoundly anti-democratic system, but we shouldn’t give in to learned helplessness,” Pickard emphasized. Government actions – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this hyper-commercialized monster, and new policy decisions can fix it.
Will that happen in an era where the head of the FCC will not confirm that the agency is independent? Overhaul is a distant prospect now, but that should not imply it will be impossible forever.
Policies that strengthen 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 healthy democracy.
When it comes to media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations such as CNN shouldn’t be pawns in the most recent merger game.
