On Thursday evening, as rumors swirled concerning an incident at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, noting the confusion and directing people to her network’s 9pm newscast.
While it is by no means a flawless news source, her words seemed accurate for numerous observers. It stands as one of the outlets where you can find fact-based and mostly dependable reporting – especially during fast-moving events like the one developing near a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious Position During a Business Struggle
However CNN, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a precarious situation as two massive media empires vie for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Regardless of who wins, the future of CNN has been drawn into a high-risk game of corporate ownership, not as a question of what serves the information-seeking public.
“Here is one more case of the profound systemic issues with roots in many years of governmental choices,” said Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Penn.
The debate about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a broader point.
“It gets presented as a corporate drama with key players as the central actors, but there is hardly any discussion of the public interest,” Pickard explained.
The Complicating Element: Political Influence
This situation is complicated by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his main “fake news” antagonist.
Remember the cries of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his administration's retaliatory suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in White House briefings.
Trump now claims that CNN needs new ownership. Many see this as a desire for ownership that will protect him from negative coverage and examination. That is one reason why he appears to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
He has grounds to like that suitor more. For one thing, it is led 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 top editor of that venerable news network.
A Possibility of Further Turmoil
Significantly, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a separate entity. Such a move could be a relief to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a secure position. That setup could position CNN for a future sale. There is no finish line.
According to Timothy Wu, much of this is against the law, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that anti-trust laws should prohibit both deals.
“Each proposed deal would be harmful to the country, and both should be contested by regulators,” Wu stated.
The Bigger Challenge and a Way Ahead
No matter the outcome in this situation, the bigger problem remains.
“The present media landscape is a very anti-democratic system, but we must resist the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard emphasized. Policy decisions – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this overly commercial monster, and new policy decisions can tackle it.
Is this likely in an era where the head of the FCC won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Overhaul is highly improbable now, but that should not imply it will not happen in the future.
Initiatives that support independent news organizations, aid local journalism, finance public media, and outlaw the accumulation of media power in very few hands are not only possible – they are vital for a robust democracy.
In the world of media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations including CNN cannot be pawns in the newest merger game.
