This past Thursday night, amid swirling speculation concerning the Brown University gunman, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, pointing out the conflicting information and directing people to her network’s 9pm newscast.
While CNN is certainly not a flawless news source, her words rang true for a lot of people. It stands as one of the broadcasters where you can find reality-based and largely trustworthy reporting – notably during crises such as the one taking place close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Vulnerable Situation During a Corporate Battle
But the news network, now middle-aged, finds itself in a vulnerable position as two giant media empires vie for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
No matter the result, the fate 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 roots in many years of regulatory actions,” said Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy at the Penn.
The debate about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a larger point.
“It gets presented as a corporate drama with powerful individuals as the main characters, but there is hardly any discussion of the public interest,” Pickard said.
The Additional Factor: The Former President
The CNN scenario is made more complex by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his chief “fake news” antagonist.
Think back to the chants of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his administration’s punitive suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in official meetings.
Trump now asserts that CNN needs 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 support Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
There is a basis to like that suitor more. For one thing, it is controlled 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 installed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that storied news network.
A Future of More Instability
Significantly, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a separate entity. That would be a relief to many at the network, but it’s hardly a guarantee of stability. That arrangement could position CNN for another sale. There is no finish line.
If you ask Timothy Wu, much of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance stated that competition laws should prohibit both deals.
“Both acquisition attempts would be harmful to the country, and both should be challenged by the government,” Wu recently wrote.
The Core Challenge and a Potential Solution
Regardless of the resolution with this particular battle, the larger issue persists.
“The present media landscape is a profoundly anti-democratic system, but we ought not succumb to learned helplessness,” Pickard noted. Policy decisions – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this overly commercial monster, and revised policy decisions can tackle it.
Will that happen in an era where the head of the FCC won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Overhaul is a distant prospect now, but that doesn’t mean it will never happen.
Policies that bolster independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, finance public media, and outlaw the consolidation of media power in a handful of hands are within reach – they are essential for a functioning democracy.
Regarding media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations including CNN must not be pawns in the latest corporate chess match.
