This past Thursday night, as rumors swirled regarding a shooting at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins used social media, pointing out the conflicting information and directing people to her channel's 9pm newscast.
While it is by no means a perfect news source, her words rang true for a lot of people. It stands as one of the organizations where there exists fact-based and mostly trustworthy reporting – especially during breaking news situations like the one taking place near a New Hampshire storage facility.
An Uncertain Situation During a Business Tug-of-War
Yet CNN, now middle-aged, finds itself in a precarious position as two huge media conglomerates battle over ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the destiny 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 fundamental flaws with origins in many years of policy decisions,” stated Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the University of Pennsylvania.
The speculation about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a larger point.
“It is often framed as a financial tale with key players as the main characters, but there is scant discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard explained.
The Additional Element: The Former President
The network's predicament is made more complex by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his primary “fake news” adversary.
Remember the chants 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 CNN needs new ownership. Many see this as a desire for ownership that will shield him from criticism and scrutiny. That is one reason why he seems to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.
He has grounds to prefer 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, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that storied news network.
A Possibility of Continued Turmoil
Significantly, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a independent unit. Such a move could be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a safe harbor. That setup could pave the way for CNN for a future sale. It never ends.
In the view of Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is illegal, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that anti-trust laws should prohibit both deals.
“Both acquisition attempts would be harmful to the country, and both should be contested by the government,” Wu argued.
The Bigger Issue and a Potential Solution
Whatever happens in this situation, the larger issue endures.
“What we have now is a highly structure that undermines democracy, but we ought not succumb to learned helplessness,” Pickard emphasized. Policy decisions – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this overly commercial monster, and revised policy decisions can fix it.
Will that happen in an era where the head of the FCC refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Overhaul is very unlikely now, but that is not to say it will not happen in the future.
Measures that support independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, finance public media, and prohibit the concentration of media power in too few hands are not only possible – they are vital for a robust democracy.
When it comes to media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations like CNN must not be pawns in the latest acquisition battle.
