On Thursday evening, while unconfirmed reports spread concerning an incident at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins took to social media, noting the confusion and directing people to her network’s 9pm newscast.
Even though the network is hardly a impeccable news source, her message resonated for numerous observers. It remains one of the outlets where you can find fact-based and generally reliable reporting – particularly during crises like the one unfolding close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
An Uncertain Situation Amid a Business Tug-of-War
Yet the news network, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a precarious state as two giant media conglomerates vie for ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
Regardless of who wins, the fate of CNN has become part of a major game of corporate ownership, instead of as a question of what benefits the information-seeking public.
“Here is one more case of the profound systemic issues with origins in many years of regulatory actions,” said Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy at the Penn.
The conjecture about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a more important point.
“The narrative is crafted as a corporate drama with powerful individuals as the protagonists, but there is scant discussion of the public interest,” Pickard said.
A Further Layer: Political Influence
The CNN scenario is made more complex by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his main “fake news” foe.
Recall the chants of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his team's disciplinary withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in White House briefings.
Trump now says that CNN needs new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will protect him from journalistic oversight. That is a factor in why he seems to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
There is a basis to like that suitor 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 historic news network.
A Possibility of Continued Uncertainty
It is important to note, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a standalone company. Such a move could be a relief to many at the network, but it’s far from a safe harbor. That structure could pave the way for CNN for a future sale. The cycle continues.
If you ask Timothy Wu, a lot of this is illegal, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that anti-trust laws should block both deals.
“Either merger would be bad for the country, and both should be opposed by the government,” Wu argued.
The Bigger Challenge and a Way Ahead
No matter the outcome regarding CNN, the larger issue endures.
“Our current system is a very system hostile to democracy, but we ought not succumb to learned helplessness,” Pickard noted. Regulatory choices – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this overly commercial monster, and different policy decisions can address it.
Can reform occur in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair will not confirm that the agency is independent? Overhaul is very unlikely now, but that should not imply it will never happen.
Policies that support independent news organizations, aid local journalism, fund public media, and prohibit the consolidation of media power in too few hands are achievable – they are essential for a robust democracy.
In the world of media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations like CNN cannot be pawns in the most recent merger game.
