This past Thursday night, amid swirling speculation concerning a shooting at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, highlighting the uncertainty and directing people to her network’s 9pm newscast.
While it is by no means a perfect news source, her words rang true for a lot of people. It stands as one of the organizations where one can locate grounded and mostly trustworthy reporting – notably during breaking news situations like the one taking place near a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious State During a High-Stakes Battle
However the news network, now 45 years old, finds itself in a uncertain situation as two massive media corporations battle over ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
No matter the result, the destiny of CNN has turned into a high-stakes game of corporate ownership, instead of as a question of what benefits the information-seeking public.
“Here is one more case of the deep structural problems with origins in many years of policy decisions,” noted Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the Pennsylvania University.
The debate about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a broader point.
“It is often framed as a business story with influential figures as the main characters, but there is scant discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard added.
A Further Element: Political Influence
This situation is complicated by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his chief “fake news” antagonist.
Recall the chants of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his administration’s punitive revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his clashes with Collins in White House briefings.
Trump now asserts that the network requires new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will shield him from negative coverage and examination. That is part of why he appears to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
He has grounds to favor that suitor more. For one thing, it is led by David Ellison, son of the Trump-friendly Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
Paramount, owner of CBS News, also recently appointed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that storied news network.
An Outcome of More Instability
It is important to note, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a standalone company. Such a move could be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s hardly a safe harbor. That structure could pave the way for CNN for another sale. The cycle continues.
According to Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance recently argued that anti-trust laws should prohibit both deals.
“Each proposed deal would be bad for the country, and both should be challenged by anti-trust authorities,” Wu recently wrote.
The Core Issue and a Path Forward
Whatever happens regarding CNN, the larger issue persists.
“What we have now is a highly anti-democratic system, but we must resist the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard emphasized. Policy decisions – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this hyper-commercialized monster, and new policy decisions can address it.
Can reform occur in an era where the top communications regulator will not confirm that the agency is independent? Overhaul is highly improbable now, but that doesn’t mean it will be impossible forever.
Initiatives that support independent news organizations, aid local journalism, subsidize public media, and outlaw the accumulation of media power in a handful of hands are achievable – they are essential for a functioning democracy.
In the world of media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations such as CNN cannot be pieces in the most recent merger game.
