Late Thursday, amid swirling speculation regarding a shooting at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins used social media, pointing out the conflicting information and directing people to her network’s 9pm newscast.
While the network is hardly a perfect news source, her message seemed accurate for a lot of people. It is one of the outlets where one can locate grounded and mostly dependable reporting – particularly during crises such as the one unfolding close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious Position During a Business Struggle
But CNN, now 45 years old, finds itself in a uncertain position as two massive media conglomerates vie for ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
No matter the result, the fate of CNN has turned into a high-risk game of mergers and acquisitions, instead of as a question of what benefits 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 academic specializing in media policy at the Penn.
The debate about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a more important point.
“It gets presented as a corporate drama with key players as the central actors, but there is scant discussion of the common good,” Pickard explained.
The Additional Factor: Political Influence
This situation is made more complex by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his primary “fake news” antagonist.
Remember the chants of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his administration's retaliatory suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in official meetings.
Trump now claims that the network requires new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will insulate him from journalistic oversight. That is one reason why he appears to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.
Trump has reason to prefer that suitor more. For one thing, it is led by David Ellison, son of the pro-Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
Paramount, parent of CBS News, also recently placed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that historic news network.
A Future of More Turmoil
Significantly, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a separate entity. That would be a relief to many at the network, but it’s far from a guarantee of stability. That structure could position CNN for a future sale. The cycle continues.
In the view of Timothy Wu, much of this is illegal, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that anti-trust laws should prohibit both deals.
“Either merger would be detrimental to the country, and both should be opposed by anti-trust authorities,” Wu argued.
The Core Problem and a Way Ahead
Regardless of the resolution in this situation, the larger issue persists.
“What we have now is a profoundly system hostile to democracy, but we shouldn’t give in to a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard said. Government actions – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this overly commercial monster, and different policy decisions can address it.
Is this likely in an era where the head of the FCC will not confirm that the agency is independent? Overhaul is very unlikely now, but that should not imply it will be impossible forever.
Policies that support independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, subsidize public media, and outlaw the accumulation of media power in a handful of hands are achievable – they are necessary for a robust democracy.
When it comes to media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations like CNN cannot be tools in the latest corporate chess match.
