This past Thursday night, while unconfirmed reports spread concerning a shooting at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, pointing out the conflicting information and directing people to her channel's 9pm newscast.
While the network is hardly a impeccable news source, her statement seemed accurate for numerous observers. It is one of the organizations where you can find grounded and generally reliable reporting – notably during crises like the one unfolding close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
An Uncertain Situation During a Business Tug-of-War
Yet the news network, now 45 years old, finds itself in a vulnerable state as two giant media conglomerates compete for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
No matter the result, the destiny of CNN has become part of a major game of mergers and acquisitions, instead of as a question of what benefits the news-consuming public.
“Here is one more case of the profound systemic issues with roots in many years of regulatory actions,” stated Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the University of Pennsylvania.
The debate about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a more important point.
“The narrative is crafted as a business story with powerful individuals as the main characters, but there is very little discussion of the public interest,” Pickard added.
The Complicating Element: The Former President
This situation is further muddied by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his primary “fake news” foe.
Remember the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his administration’s punitive withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in White House briefings.
Trump now says that CNN needs new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will insulate him from negative coverage and examination. That is part of why he appears to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
Trump has reason to favor 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, parent of CBS News, also recently appointed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that venerable news network.
A Future of Further Instability
It is important to note, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a standalone company. This might be a relief to many at the network, but it’s not exactly 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 illegal, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that competition laws should disallow both deals.
“Either merger would be bad for the country, and both should be challenged by regulators,” Wu argued.
The Fundamental Challenge and a Way Ahead
Regardless of the resolution in this situation, the bigger problem remains.
“The present media landscape is a highly structure that undermines democracy, but we must resist a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard said. Policy decisions – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this hyper-commercialized monster, and new policy decisions can fix it.
Will that happen in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Overhaul is highly improbable now, but that is not to say it will never happen.
Initiatives that strengthen independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, subsidize public media, and prevent the accumulation of media power in very few hands are achievable – they are necessary for a robust democracy.
When it comes to media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations like CNN must not be pawns in the most recent merger game.
