On Thursday evening, while unconfirmed reports spread concerning the Brown University gunman, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins used social media, pointing out the conflicting information and guiding the public to her network’s 9pm newscast.
Even though the network is hardly a impeccable news source, her message resonated to many. It remains one of the broadcasters where you can find reality-based and generally dependable reporting – especially during fast-moving events like the one unfolding close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Vulnerable Situation During a Corporate Struggle
Yet the news network, now middle-aged, finds itself in a precarious position as two massive media conglomerates battle over ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
Regardless of who wins, the future of CNN has been drawn into a high-risk game of mergers and acquisitions, instead of as a question of what serves the news-consuming public.
“Here is one more case of the profound systemic issues with roots in decades of regulatory actions,” stated Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy at the Penn.
The speculation about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a larger point.
“The narrative is crafted as a financial tale with influential figures as the main characters, but there is very little discussion of the common good,” Pickard added.
The Complicating Factor: Political Influence
This situation is made more complex by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his chief “fake news” antagonist.
Recall the cries of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his team's disciplinary withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in press briefings.
Trump now says that CNN needs new ownership. Many see this as a desire for ownership that will protect him from criticism and scrutiny. That is one reason why he appears to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.
There is a basis to like that bidder more. For one thing, it is run 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 installed the conservative Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that venerable news network.
An Outcome of More Uncertainty
Significantly, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a separate entity. Such a move could be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s far from a secure position. That setup could set up CNN for a future sale. The cycle continues.
According to Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that competition laws should disallow both deals.
“Each proposed deal would be detrimental to the country, and both should be challenged by the government,” Wu argued.
The Core Problem and a Path Forward
No matter the outcome in this situation, the bigger problem remains.
“Our current system is a highly anti-democratic system, but we shouldn’t give in to a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard said. Government actions – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this profit-obsessed monster, and revised policy decisions can address it.
Will that happen in an era where the head of the FCC won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Overhaul is a distant prospect now, but that doesn’t mean it will not happen in the future.
Initiatives that bolster independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, fund public media, and outlaw the consolidation of media power in very few hands are not only possible – they are vital for a functioning democracy.
Regarding media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations such as CNN must not be pieces in the most recent corporate chess match.
