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 channel's 9pm newscast.
Even though the network is hardly a perfect news source, her words rang true to many. It is one of the outlets where one can locate fact-based and generally reliable reporting – notably during breaking news situations such as the one unfolding in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious Position Amid a Business Battle
However the news network, now middle-aged, finds itself in a vulnerable situation as two giant media empires battle over ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
No matter the result, the fate of CNN has become part of a major game of mergers and acquisitions, instead of as a question of what serves the information-seeking public.
“Here is one more case of the profound systemic issues with origins in decades of regulatory actions,” stated Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy at the University of Pennsylvania.
The speculation about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a larger point.
“The narrative is crafted as a business story with influential figures as the central actors, but there is hardly any discussion of the common good,” Pickard explained.
The Complicating Element: Political Influence
The CNN scenario is complicated by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his main “fake news” antagonist.
Remember the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at the president’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 claims that the network requires new ownership. Many see this as a desire for ownership that will protect him from journalistic oversight. That is one reason why he appears to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.
Trump has reason to prefer that bidder more. For one thing, it is controlled by David Ellison, son of the pro-Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
Paramount, parent of CBS News, also recently appointed the conservative Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that storied news network.
An Outcome of More Turmoil
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 guarantee of stability. That structure could pave the way for CNN for another sale. There is no finish line.
According to Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is against the law, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance recently argued that competition laws should disallow both deals.
“Both acquisition attempts would be bad for the country, and both should be contested by the government,” Wu argued.
The Bigger Challenge and a Path Forward
Regardless of the resolution regarding CNN, the bigger problem endures.
“What we have now is a highly system hostile to democracy, but we must resist learned helplessness,” Pickard noted. Policy decisions – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this overly commercial monster, and new policy decisions can tackle it.
Can reform occur in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Change is a distant prospect now, but that should not imply it will be impossible forever.
Measures that bolster independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, subsidize public media, and prevent the accumulation of media power in too few hands are not only possible – they are necessary for a functioning democracy.
Regarding media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations like CNN must not be pieces in the latest corporate chess match.
