On Thursday evening, while unconfirmed reports spread concerning an incident at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins took to social media, highlighting the uncertainty and guiding the public to her network’s 9pm newscast.
Even though the network is hardly a perfect news source, her words seemed accurate for numerous observers. It stands as one of the broadcasters where one can locate fact-based and mostly dependable reporting – especially during fast-moving events such as the one taking place near a New Hampshire storage facility.
An Uncertain Position During a Business Struggle
Yet CNN, now 45 years old, finds itself in a precarious state as two huge media empires vie for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the destiny of CNN has become part of a high-stakes game of mergers and acquisitions, not as a question of what benefits the information-seeking public.
“This represents another instance of the profound systemic issues with origins in decades of regulatory actions,” noted Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the University of Pennsylvania.
The speculation about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a more important point.
“It is often framed as a business story with powerful individuals as the central actors, but there is very little discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard said.
A Further Element: Political Influence
The network's predicament is further muddied by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his main “fake news” foe.
Remember the chants of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his administration’s punitive suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in White House briefings.
Trump now claims 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 favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.
Trump has reason to like that company more. For one thing, it is run by David Ellison, son of the Trump-friendly Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
The company, owner of CBS News, also recently placed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that historic news network.
A Possibility of More Turmoil
Significantly, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a separate entity. That would be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a guarantee of stability. That setup could position CNN for yet another acquisition. There is no finish line.
If you ask Timothy Wu, a lot of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that anti-trust laws should disallow both deals.
“Both acquisition attempts would be bad for the country, and both should be contested by regulators,” Wu stated.
The Bigger Issue and a Potential Solution
No matter the outcome in this situation, the bigger problem persists.
“What we have now is a highly anti-democratic system, but we must resist learned helplessness,” Pickard said. Regulatory choices – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this hyper-commercialized monster, and different policy decisions can fix it.
Is this likely in an era where the head of the FCC will not confirm that the agency is independent? Change is a distant prospect now, but that is not to say it will not happen in the future.
Measures that support independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, finance public media, and outlaw the accumulation of media power in too few hands are within reach – they are essential for a functioning democracy.
In the world of media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations such as CNN must not be tools in the newest merger game.
