This past Thursday night, while unconfirmed reports spread concerning an incident at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins took to social media, noting the confusion and guiding the public to her network’s 9pm newscast.
While CNN is certainly not a impeccable news source, her words resonated for a lot of people. It remains one of the organizations where you can find grounded and largely dependable reporting – especially during fast-moving events like the one unfolding close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
An Uncertain Position Amid a Corporate Struggle
But CNN, now 45 years old, finds itself in a precarious position as two huge media corporations battle over ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the destiny of CNN has turned into a high-risk game of mergers and acquisitions, not as a question of what helps the information-seeking 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 University of Pennsylvania.
The speculation about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a broader point.
“It is often framed as a business story with powerful individuals as the protagonists, but there is hardly any discussion of the public interest,” Pickard added.
A Further Layer: Donald Trump
The CNN scenario is made more complex by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his main “fake news” foe.
Remember the chants of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his administration's retaliatory revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in press briefings.
Trump now claims that CNN needs new ownership. Many see this as a desire for ownership that will protect him from journalistic oversight. That is a factor in why he seems to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
There is a basis to favor that bidder 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.
The company, parent of CBS News, also recently appointed the conservative Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that venerable news network.
A Future of Further Instability
It is important to note, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a separate entity. Such a move could be a relief to many at the network, but it’s far from a secure position. That setup could position CNN for a future sale. It never ends.
If you ask Timothy Wu, much of this is against the law, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that anti-trust laws should block both deals.
“Each proposed deal would be harmful to the country, and both should be opposed by regulators,” Wu recently wrote.
The Core Issue and a Potential Solution
Regardless of the resolution regarding CNN, the bigger problem endures.
“What we have now is a highly structure that undermines democracy, but we must resist learned helplessness,” Pickard emphasized. Regulatory choices – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this hyper-commercialized monster, and revised policy decisions can tackle it.
Is this likely in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair will not confirm that the agency is independent? Change is a distant prospect now, but that is not to say it will never happen.
Initiatives that support independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, finance public media, and outlaw the consolidation of media power in a handful of hands are achievable – they are essential for a robust democracy.
Regarding media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations like CNN must not be tools in the latest acquisition battle.
