On Thursday evening, amid swirling speculation concerning the Brown University gunman, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins took to social media, noting the confusion and guiding the public to her network’s 9pm newscast.
While CNN is certainly not a flawless news source, her statement seemed accurate to many. It is one of the broadcasters where there exists grounded and largely trustworthy reporting – especially during crises like the one developing near a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious State During a Corporate Struggle
But CNN, now 45 years old, finds itself in a uncertain state as two giant media empires battle over ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the fate of CNN has been drawn into a major game of business acquisition, instead of as a question of what helps the information-seeking public.
“This represents another instance of the deep structural problems with origins in decades of policy decisions,” stated Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the University of Pennsylvania.
The speculation about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp 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 societal benefit,” Pickard said.
A Further Factor: Political Influence
This situation is made more complex by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his primary “fake news” foe.
Recall the chants of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his team's disciplinary suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his clashes with Collins in official meetings.
Trump now asserts that the network requires new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will protect him from journalistic oversight. That is a factor in why he appears to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
Trump has reason to prefer that suitor more. For one thing, it is run by David Ellison, son of the Trump-friendly Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
Paramount, parent of CBS News, also recently placed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that storied news network.
A Possibility of More Uncertainty
Notably, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a standalone company. That would be a relief to many at the network, but it’s hardly a safe harbor. That setup could pave the way for CNN for another sale. The cycle continues.
In the view of Timothy Wu, much of this is illegal, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance wrote recently 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 recently wrote.
The Core Problem and a Way Ahead
Whatever happens in this situation, the bigger problem persists.
“What we have now is a highly anti-democratic system, but we must resist learned helplessness,” Pickard noted. Government actions – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this hyper-commercialized monster, and revised policy decisions can tackle it.
Can reform occur in an era where the head of the FCC will not confirm that the agency is independent? Overhaul is very unlikely now, but that should not imply it will be impossible forever.
Policies that support independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, finance public media, and outlaw the concentration of media power in a handful of hands are within reach – they are essential 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 most recent merger game.
