This past Thursday night, as rumors swirled regarding the Brown University gunman, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins used social media, noting the confusion and pointing viewers to her network’s 9pm newscast.
Although the network is hardly a flawless news source, her statement rang true to many. It remains one of the outlets where one can locate reality-based and generally reliable reporting – particularly during fast-moving events like the one developing near a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious Situation Amid a Corporate Battle
Yet CNN, now 45 years old, finds itself in a uncertain situation as two massive media empires vie for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the future of CNN has become part of a major game of mergers and acquisitions, not as a question of what serves the news-consuming public.
“Here is one more case of the deep structural problems with roots in many years of regulatory actions,” noted Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the Penn.
The debate 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 influential figures as the protagonists, but there is hardly any discussion of the common good,” Pickard said.
The Complicating Element: Political Influence
The network's predicament is further muddied by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his chief “fake news” foe.
Think back to the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his administration's retaliatory withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in press briefings.
Trump now says that the network requires new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will protect him from criticism and scrutiny. That is a factor in why he appears to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.
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.
Paramount, owner of CBS News, also recently placed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that venerable news network.
A Possibility of More Instability
Notably, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a independent unit. That would be a relief to many at the network, but it’s far from a secure position. That setup could position CNN for a future sale. The cycle continues.
In the view of Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is against the law, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that competition laws should prohibit both deals.
“Either merger would be detrimental to the country, and both should be opposed by anti-trust authorities,” Wu stated.
The Core Challenge and a Potential Solution
Regardless of the resolution in this situation, the bigger problem persists.
“Our current system is a profoundly structure that undermines democracy, but we ought not succumb to the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard emphasized. Government actions – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this hyper-commercialized monster, and revised policy decisions can fix it.
Is this likely 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 never happen.
Measures that strengthen independent news organizations, aid local journalism, fund public media, and prohibit the concentration of media power in a handful of hands are not only possible – they are vital for a functioning democracy.
Regarding media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations like CNN shouldn’t be pieces in the most recent acquisition battle.
