This past Thursday night, while unconfirmed reports spread about a shooting at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, highlighting the uncertainty and pointing viewers to her network’s 9pm newscast.
Although CNN is certainly not a perfect news source, her message seemed accurate for a lot of people. It stands as one of the organizations where there exists grounded and largely dependable reporting – notably during fast-moving events like the one taking place near a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious Situation Amid a High-Stakes Struggle
But the news network, now 45 years old, finds itself in a precarious state as two huge media empires vie for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
No matter the result, the destiny of CNN has turned into a high-risk game of business acquisition, instead of as a question of what helps the information-seeking public.
“This represents another instance of the deep structural problems with origins in many years of policy decisions,” said Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the Penn.
The speculation about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – could it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a broader point.
“It gets presented as a corporate drama with powerful individuals as the central actors, but there is hardly any discussion of the public interest,” Pickard said.
A Further Layer: The Former President
The CNN scenario is further muddied by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his main “fake news” antagonist.
Think back to the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his administration's retaliatory suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in White House briefings.
Trump now claims that the network requires new ownership. Many see this as a desire for ownership that will shield him from criticism and scrutiny. That is part of why he appears to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
There is a basis to prefer that company more. For one thing, it is controlled by David Ellison, son of the pro-Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
The company, owner of CBS News, also recently installed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that venerable news network.
A Possibility of More Uncertainty
Significantly, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a independent unit. That would be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a guarantee of stability. That setup could set up CNN for another sale. There is no finish line.
According to Timothy Wu, a lot of this is illegal, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance recently argued that anti-trust laws should disallow both deals.
“Both acquisition attempts would be detrimental to the country, and both should be opposed by regulators,” Wu stated.
The Fundamental Issue and a Way Ahead
Whatever happens with this particular battle, the bigger problem remains.
“Our current system is a very anti-democratic system, but we ought not succumb to learned helplessness,” Pickard noted. Policy decisions – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this profit-obsessed monster, and different 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? Change is highly improbable now, but that doesn’t mean it will not happen in the future.
Policies that strengthen independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, subsidize public media, and prohibit the accumulation of media power in too few hands are not only possible – they are vital for a functioning democracy.
Regarding media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations including CNN shouldn’t be pawns in the newest acquisition battle.
