This past Thursday night, amid swirling speculation about a shooting at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins took to social media, pointing out the conflicting information and directing people to her network’s 9pm newscast.
While it is by no means a perfect news source, her words rang true for numerous observers. It is one of the outlets where one can locate grounded and largely reliable reporting – especially during breaking news situations like the one developing close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious Position During a Business Tug-of-War
But the news network, now middle-aged, finds itself in a uncertain position as two massive media corporations vie for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Regardless of who wins, the destiny of CNN has become part of a high-risk game of mergers and acquisitions, rather than as a question of what benefits the news-consuming public.
“This is yet another example of the deep structural problems with origins in decades of governmental choices,” stated Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the Pennsylvania University.
The debate about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – could it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a broader point.
“It gets presented as a corporate drama with influential figures as the protagonists, but there is hardly any discussion of the common good,” Pickard added.
The Complicating Layer: Political Influence
The network's predicament is complicated by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his chief “fake news” antagonist.
Recall the cries of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's 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 shield him from negative coverage and examination. That is part of why he seems to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
He has grounds to prefer that suitor more. For one thing, it is led by David Ellison, son of the Trump-friendly Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
The company, parent of CBS News, also recently appointed the conservative Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that historic news network.
A Possibility of Further Uncertainty
Significantly, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a standalone company. Such a move could be a relief to many at the network, but it’s far from a secure position. That structure could pave the way for CNN for a future sale. It never ends.
If you ask Timothy Wu, a lot of this is against the law, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that anti-trust laws should disallow both deals.
“Both acquisition attempts would be bad for the country, and both should be contested by anti-trust authorities,” Wu stated.
The Bigger Challenge and a Potential Solution
No matter the outcome with this particular battle, the underlying crisis remains.
“The present media landscape is a very structure that undermines democracy, but we must resist a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard said. Government actions – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this overly commercial monster, and revised policy decisions can fix it.
Is this likely in an era where the head of the FCC refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Overhaul is highly improbable now, but that is not to say it will not happen in the future.
Measures that strengthen independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, finance public media, and outlaw the accumulation of media power in too few hands are within reach – they are necessary for a robust democracy.
Regarding media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations including CNN cannot be tools in the newest acquisition battle.
