Late Thursday, amid swirling speculation regarding a shooting at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, noting the confusion and pointing viewers to her network’s 9pm newscast.
While CNN is certainly not a flawless news source, her statement resonated for numerous observers. It remains one of the organizations where one can locate fact-based and largely trustworthy reporting – especially during fast-moving events such as the one developing near a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious State Amid a Business Struggle
But the news network, now 45 years old, finds itself in a uncertain situation as two huge media empires vie for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Regardless of who wins, the future of CNN has become part of a high-risk game of business acquisition, rather than as a question of what helps the news-consuming public.
“Here is one more case of the profound systemic issues with origins in decades of governmental choices,” 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 – could it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a more important point.
“It gets presented as a business story with influential figures as the central actors, but there is scant discussion of the public interest,” Pickard said.
A Further Layer: Donald Trump
The CNN scenario is complicated by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his primary “fake news” adversary.
Think back to 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 press briefings.
Trump now claims that the network requires new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will insulate him from journalistic oversight. That is a factor in why he appears to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.
Trump has reason to prefer that company more. For one thing, it is run 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 appointed the conservative Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that historic news network.
A Future of More Instability
Notably, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a independent unit. That would be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s hardly a safe harbor. That structure could set up CNN for another sale. There is no finish line.
If you ask Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is against the law, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance recently argued that competition laws should disallow both deals.
“Both acquisition attempts would be detrimental to the country, and both should be opposed by anti-trust authorities,” Wu argued.
The Fundamental Challenge and a Potential Solution
Whatever happens in this situation, the larger issue persists.
“The present media landscape is a profoundly structure that undermines democracy, but we ought not succumb to learned helplessness,” Pickard emphasized. Regulatory choices – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this profit-obsessed monster, and revised policy decisions can tackle it.
Will that happen in an era where the top communications regulator refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Overhaul is a distant prospect now, but that doesn’t mean it will not happen in the future.
Initiatives that strengthen independent news organizations, aid local journalism, subsidize public media, and outlaw the accumulation of media power in a handful of hands are within reach – they are vital for a robust democracy.
When it comes to media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations such as CNN cannot be tools in the newest merger game.
