On Thursday evening, as rumors swirled concerning a shooting at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, pointing out the conflicting information and guiding the public to her channel's 9pm newscast.
Although it is by no means a impeccable news source, her words seemed accurate to many. It stands as one of the broadcasters where you can find reality-based and mostly dependable reporting – notably during fast-moving events like the one unfolding in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.
An Uncertain Position Amid a Business Struggle
But CNN, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a uncertain situation as two massive media conglomerates battle over ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the future of CNN has been drawn into a high-stakes game of corporate ownership, not as a question of what benefits the news-consuming public.
“This is yet another example of the profound systemic issues with origins in decades of regulatory actions,” said Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy at the Penn.
The debate about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a broader point.
“The narrative is crafted as a business story with powerful individuals as the central actors, but there is very little discussion of the common good,” Pickard explained.
The Complicating Factor: Donald Trump
The CNN scenario is complicated by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his chief “fake news” adversary.
Remember the cries of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his administration’s punitive withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in White House briefings.
Trump now asserts that the network requires new ownership. Many see this as a desire for ownership that will insulate him from journalistic oversight. That is part of why he seems to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.
There is a basis to prefer that bidder more. For one thing, it is run by David Ellison, son of the Trump-friendly Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
Paramount, owner of CBS News, also recently appointed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that storied news network.
A Possibility of Continued Instability
It is important to note, if Netflix wins, 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 not exactly a guarantee of stability. That structure could position CNN for yet another acquisition. The cycle continues.
In the view of Timothy Wu, much of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that competition laws should block both deals.
“Either merger would be detrimental to the country, and both should be opposed by anti-trust authorities,” Wu recently wrote.
The Bigger Challenge and a Path Forward
No matter the outcome regarding CNN, the underlying crisis endures.
“What we have now is a very structure that undermines democracy, but we must resist learned helplessness,” Pickard said. Policy decisions – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this profit-obsessed monster, and different policy decisions can fix it.
Is this likely in an era where the head of the FCC will not confirm that the agency is independent? Change is very unlikely now, but that is not to say it will not happen in the future.
Measures that bolster independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, fund public media, and prevent the consolidation of media power in too few hands are achievable – they are essential for a robust democracy.
Regarding media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations such as CNN shouldn’t be pieces in the most recent merger game.
