This past Thursday night, amid swirling speculation regarding the Brown University gunman, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, highlighting the uncertainty and guiding the public to her network’s 9pm newscast.
While CNN is certainly not a impeccable news source, her statement seemed accurate for a lot of people. It remains one of the outlets where one can locate fact-based and generally trustworthy reporting – notably during crises such as the one unfolding in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.
An Uncertain State Amid a Business Struggle
Yet the news network, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a uncertain state as two giant media conglomerates battle over ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
No matter the result, the destiny of CNN has become part of a high-stakes game of corporate ownership, rather than as a question of what benefits the information-seeking public.
“This represents another instance of the fundamental flaws with roots in many years of governmental choices,” noted Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the University of Pennsylvania.
The conjecture about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a larger point.
“It gets presented as a business story with powerful individuals as the central actors, but there is scant discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard added.
A Further Layer: Donald Trump
The CNN scenario is made more complex by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his chief “fake news” foe.
Remember the chants of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his administration’s punitive revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in official meetings.
Trump now asserts that the network requires new ownership. Many see this as a desire for ownership that will protect him from journalistic oversight. That is one reason why he seems to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
There is a basis to favor that bidder more. For one thing, it is led 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 appointed the conservative Bari Weiss, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that venerable news network.
A Future of Continued Uncertainty
It is important to note, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a separate entity. Such a move could be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s hardly a safe harbor. That arrangement could position CNN for yet another acquisition. The cycle continues.
If you ask Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is illegal, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that competition laws should disallow both deals.
“Either merger would be detrimental to the country, and both should be challenged by regulators,” Wu recently wrote.
The Bigger Problem and a Potential Solution
Whatever happens in this situation, the bigger problem remains.
“What we have now is a very structure that undermines democracy, but we must resist learned helplessness,” Pickard noted. Regulatory choices – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this overly commercial monster, and different policy decisions can tackle it.
Is this likely in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair will not confirm that the agency is independent? Change is a distant prospect now, but that doesn’t mean it will not happen in the future.
Policies that support independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, subsidize public media, and outlaw the accumulation of media power in very few hands are achievable – they are vital for a healthy democracy.
In the world of media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations like CNN shouldn’t be tools in the newest acquisition battle.
