This past Thursday night, while unconfirmed reports spread about an incident at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins took to social media, highlighting the uncertainty and guiding the public to her network’s 9pm newscast.
Although it is by no means a flawless news source, her words resonated for a lot of people. It stands as one of the organizations where you can find grounded and largely reliable reporting – notably during fast-moving events such as the one unfolding close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
An Uncertain Position Amid a Business Struggle
However the news network, now middle-aged, finds itself in a vulnerable state as two huge media conglomerates battle over ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the future of CNN has been drawn into a major game of business acquisition, not as a question of what helps the information-seeking public.
“Here is one more case of the profound systemic issues with roots in many years of regulatory actions,” noted Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of 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? – overlooks a more important point.
“It is often framed as a corporate drama with key players as the main characters, but there is scant discussion of the common good,” Pickard said.
A Further Layer: The Former President
This situation is made more complex by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his main “fake news” adversary.
Recall the cries of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his administration’s punitive withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his clashes with Collins in White House briefings.
Trump now claims that CNN needs new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will shield him from criticism and scrutiny. That is a factor in why he seems to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.
Trump has reason to prefer that company more. For one thing, it is controlled by David Ellison, son of the ally of Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
Paramount, owner of CBS News, also recently appointed the conservative Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that storied news network.
A Future of More Instability
It is important to note, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a separate entity. Such a move could be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s hardly a guarantee of stability. That arrangement could set up CNN for another sale. It never ends.
If you ask Timothy Wu, a lot of this is against the law, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that anti-trust laws should block both deals.
“Each proposed deal would be detrimental to the country, and both should be challenged by the government,” Wu stated.
The Core Challenge and a Potential Solution
Regardless of the resolution with this particular battle, the larger issue persists.
“The present media landscape is a profoundly system hostile to democracy, but we shouldn’t give in to a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard noted. Policy decisions – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this overly commercial monster, and different policy decisions can tackle it.
Is this likely in an era where the top communications regulator won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Reform is highly improbable now, but that doesn’t mean it will not happen in the future.
Measures that strengthen independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, finance public media, and prohibit the consolidation of media power in very few hands are not only possible – they are vital for a robust democracy.
In the world of media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations like CNN shouldn’t be pawns in the newest merger game.
