On Thursday evening, while unconfirmed reports spread concerning a shooting at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins used social media, pointing out the conflicting information and guiding the public to her channel's 9pm newscast.
While it is by no means a perfect news source, her words rang true to many. It stands as one of the organizations where there exists fact-based and mostly trustworthy reporting – especially during fast-moving events such as the one taking place in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious Situation Amid a Business Battle
But the news network, now 45 years old, finds itself in a precarious position as two giant media corporations battle over ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the future of CNN has been drawn into a major game of business acquisition, instead of as a question of what serves the information-seeking public.
“This is yet another example of the deep structural problems with roots in many years of regulatory actions,” said Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Penn.
The conjecture about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – could it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a more important point.
“The narrative is crafted as a corporate drama with key players as the protagonists, but there is very little discussion of the common good,” Pickard explained.
The Additional Layer: Donald Trump
The CNN scenario is made more complex by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his main “fake news” foe.
Recall the cries of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his team's disciplinary revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in press briefings.
Trump now asserts that the network requires new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will shield him from journalistic oversight. That is part of why he seems to come down on the side of 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 ally of Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
The company, owner of CBS News, also recently placed the conservative Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that storied news network.
A Possibility of Continued Turmoil
Notably, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a independent unit. This might be a relief to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a guarantee of stability. That structure could set up CNN for a future sale. It never ends.
If you ask Timothy Wu, a lot of this is against the law, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance stated that anti-trust 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 Bigger Challenge and a Way Ahead
Whatever happens regarding CNN, the bigger problem endures.
“Our current system is a very anti-democratic system, but we shouldn’t give in to learned helplessness,” Pickard said. Regulatory choices – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this hyper-commercialized monster, and revised policy decisions can address it.
Is this likely in an era where the top communications regulator will not confirm that the agency is independent? Overhaul is a distant prospect now, but that should not imply it will not happen in the future.
Initiatives that strengthen independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, subsidize public media, and prevent the accumulation of media power in too few hands are not only possible – they are necessary for a robust democracy.
Regarding media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations such as CNN must not be tools in the most recent merger game.
