Late Thursday, as rumors swirled about an incident at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins took to social media, noting the confusion and guiding the public to her channel's 9pm newscast.
Even though the network is hardly a flawless news source, her words rang true for numerous observers. It remains one of the outlets where one can locate fact-based and generally reliable reporting – notably during breaking news situations such as the one taking place close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
An Uncertain Position During a High-Stakes Struggle
However CNN, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a uncertain situation as two huge media empires vie for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the destiny of CNN has been drawn into a high-risk game of corporate ownership, rather than as a question of what helps the news-consuming public.
“Here is one more case of the fundamental flaws with origins in many years of policy decisions,” noted Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the Pennsylvania University.
The speculation about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a broader point.
“It gets presented as a financial tale with powerful individuals as the main characters, but there is hardly any discussion of the public interest,” Pickard said.
The Additional Factor: The Former President
The CNN scenario is further muddied by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his primary “fake news” antagonist.
Think back to the chants of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his administration’s punitive suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his clashes with Collins in official meetings.
Trump now asserts that CNN needs new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will protect him from journalistic oversight. That is one reason why he seems to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.
Trump has reason to like that company more. For one thing, it is run by David Ellison, son of the pro-Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
Paramount, owner of CBS News, also recently placed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that venerable news network.
An Outcome of Further Turmoil
Notably, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a separate entity. That would be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s hardly a safe harbor. That setup could set up CNN for another sale. There is no finish line.
If you ask Timothy Wu, much of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that anti-trust laws should prohibit both deals.
“Each proposed deal would be bad for the country, and both should be opposed by anti-trust authorities,” Wu argued.
The Bigger Problem and a Path Forward
Whatever happens in this situation, the bigger problem endures.
“The present media landscape is a profoundly system hostile to democracy, but we ought not succumb to learned helplessness,” Pickard said. Policy decisions – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this overly commercial monster, and new policy decisions can tackle it.
Will that happen in an era where the top communications regulator refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Change is highly improbable now, but that is not to say it will never happen.
Initiatives that support independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, fund public media, and prohibit the concentration of media power in too few hands are not only possible – they are necessary for a functioning democracy.
Regarding media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations such as CNN shouldn’t be tools in the most recent merger game.
