On Thursday evening, while unconfirmed reports spread about the Brown University gunman, the network's Kaitlan Collins used social media, pointing out the conflicting information and guiding the public to her network’s 9pm newscast.
Although it is by no means a impeccable news source, her words rang true for a lot of people. It remains one of the organizations where there exists reality-based and generally trustworthy reporting – particularly during breaking news situations like the one developing near a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious Position During a Corporate Struggle
However CNN, now middle-aged, finds itself in a uncertain state as two huge media empires battle over ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Regardless of who wins, the destiny of CNN has been drawn into a major game of corporate ownership, rather than as a question of what benefits the information-seeking public.
“This represents another instance of the deep structural problems with roots in decades of regulatory actions,” stated Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy at the University of Pennsylvania.
The speculation about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a more important point.
“It gets presented as a financial tale with powerful individuals as the central actors, but there is hardly any discussion of the public interest,” Pickard explained.
The Additional Factor: Political Influence
This situation is complicated by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his chief “fake news” adversary.
Recall the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his administration's retaliatory withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in official meetings.
Trump now asserts that the network requires new ownership. Many see this as a desire for ownership that will shield him from journalistic oversight. That is a factor in why he appears to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.
There is a basis to like 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 installed the conservative Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that storied news network.
A Future of Continued Turmoil
Significantly, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a standalone company. This might be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s far from a safe harbor. That arrangement could set up CNN for another sale. There is no finish line.
According to Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that competition laws should prohibit both deals.
“Either merger would be detrimental to the country, and both should be opposed by regulators,” Wu argued.
The Fundamental Issue and a Path Forward
Regardless of the resolution in this situation, the bigger problem remains.
“The present media landscape is a highly system hostile to democracy, but we ought not succumb to learned helplessness,” Pickard said. Policy decisions – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this profit-obsessed monster, and revised policy decisions can fix it.
Can reform occur in an era where the head of the FCC refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Change is very unlikely now, but that should not imply it will not happen in the future.
Measures that bolster independent news organizations, aid local journalism, fund public media, and outlaw the concentration of media power in very few hands are not only possible – they are necessary for a robust democracy.
In the world of media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations such as CNN cannot be pieces in the newest acquisition battle.
