Late Thursday, amid swirling speculation concerning an incident at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins took to social media, noting the confusion and pointing viewers to her network’s 9pm newscast.
Even though CNN is certainly not a impeccable news source, her words seemed accurate to many. It is one of the outlets where one can locate fact-based and generally dependable reporting – especially during fast-moving events like the one taking place in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.
An Uncertain Situation During a High-Stakes Battle
Yet CNN, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a uncertain state as two huge media empires compete for ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
Regardless of who wins, the future of CNN has turned into a high-stakes game of mergers and acquisitions, instead of as a question of what serves the news-consuming public.
“Here is one more case of the profound systemic issues with roots in many years of regulatory actions,” stated Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the University of Pennsylvania.
The conjecture about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a larger point.
“It gets presented as a business story with powerful individuals as the central actors, but there is scant discussion of the common good,” 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 long portrayed as perhaps his primary “fake news” adversary.
Remember the cries of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his administration's retaliatory suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in official meetings.
Trump now says 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 seems to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.
Trump has reason to favor that suitor more. For one thing, it is led by David Ellison, son of the ally of Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
Paramount, parent of CBS News, also recently installed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that storied news network.
A Possibility of Further Uncertainty
It is important to note, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a standalone company. Such a move could be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s hardly a secure position. That structure could position CNN for another sale. It never ends.
If you ask Timothy Wu, much of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance recently argued that competition laws should prohibit both deals.
“Both acquisition attempts would be harmful to the country, and both should be opposed by anti-trust authorities,” Wu recently wrote.
The Core Challenge and a Way Ahead
Whatever happens in this situation, the bigger problem persists.
“What we have now is a highly structure that undermines democracy, but we shouldn’t give in to a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard emphasized. Policy decisions – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this overly commercial monster, and revised policy decisions can tackle it.
Is this likely in an era where the head of the FCC won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Reform is very unlikely now, but that doesn’t mean it will be impossible forever.
Measures that bolster independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, subsidize public media, and outlaw the consolidation of media power in very few hands are not only possible – they are vital for a functioning democracy.
Regarding media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations including CNN shouldn’t be tools in the most recent corporate chess match.
