This past Thursday night, amid swirling speculation regarding the Brown University gunman, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins used social media, pointing out the conflicting information and directing people to her network’s 9pm newscast.
While the network is hardly a impeccable news source, her words rang true for numerous observers. It is one of the broadcasters where you can find reality-based and generally trustworthy reporting – particularly during fast-moving events such as the one unfolding in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.
An Uncertain Position During a Business Battle
But the news network, now 45 years old, finds itself in a vulnerable position as two huge media conglomerates battle over ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the fate of CNN has turned into a high-stakes game of corporate ownership, instead of as a question of what benefits the news-consuming public.
“This represents another instance of the fundamental flaws with origins in many years of regulatory actions,” stated Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Penn.
The conjecture about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a broader point.
“The narrative is crafted as a corporate drama with influential figures as the main characters, but there is very little discussion of the public interest,” Pickard explained.
The Complicating Element: Political Influence
The CNN scenario is further muddied by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his chief “fake news” antagonist.
Recall the cries of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his team's disciplinary suspension 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. You can read that as ownership that will insulate him from criticism and scrutiny. That is part of why he appears to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
Trump has reason to like 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 placed the conservative Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that storied news network.
A Future of Further Uncertainty
Notably, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a standalone company. This might be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s hardly a secure position. That setup could position CNN for another sale. The cycle continues.
According to Timothy Wu, much of this is against the law, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance stated that anti-trust laws should block both deals.
“Either merger would be bad for the country, and both should be opposed by anti-trust authorities,” Wu recently wrote.
The Fundamental Problem and a Potential Solution
Whatever happens regarding CNN, the underlying crisis endures.
“What we have now is a very structure that undermines democracy, but we shouldn’t give in to learned helplessness,” Pickard noted. Regulatory choices – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this profit-obsessed monster, and revised policy decisions can address it.
Will that happen in an era where the head of the FCC will not confirm that the agency is independent? Change is very unlikely now, but that doesn’t mean it will be impossible forever.
Measures that strengthen independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, finance public media, and prohibit the concentration of media power in very few hands are achievable – they are vital for a robust democracy.
In the world of media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations such as CNN must not be tools in the latest acquisition battle.
