This past Thursday night, amid swirling speculation about the Brown University gunman, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins took to social media, highlighting the uncertainty and directing people to her channel's 9pm newscast.
While the network is hardly a impeccable news source, her statement resonated for a lot of people. It stands as one of the organizations where one can locate grounded and largely reliable reporting – notably during crises like the one taking place close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
An Uncertain Position During a Corporate Battle
However the news network, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a uncertain position as two massive 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 high-risk game of corporate ownership, rather than as a question of what benefits the information-seeking public.
“This is yet another example of the fundamental flaws with origins in decades of policy decisions,” noted Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy at the Pennsylvania University.
The conjecture about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a larger point.
“The narrative is crafted as a corporate drama with key players as the central actors, but there is hardly any discussion of the common good,” Pickard explained.
The Additional Factor: Donald Trump
The CNN scenario is made more complex by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his main “fake news” adversary.
Think back to the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his administration’s punitive revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in White House briefings.
Trump now claims that CNN needs new ownership. Many see this as a desire for ownership that will insulate him from journalistic oversight. That is one reason why he appears to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
Trump has reason to favor that bidder more. For one thing, it is run by David Ellison, son of the pro-Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
The company, parent of CBS News, also recently placed the conservative Bari Weiss, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that historic news network.
An Outcome of Continued Instability
Significantly, if Netflix wins, 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 secure position. That setup could pave the way for CNN for a future sale. It never ends.
According to Timothy Wu, much of this is against the law, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance recently argued that anti-trust laws should prohibit both deals.
“Both acquisition attempts would be bad for the country, and both should be opposed by anti-trust authorities,” Wu recently wrote.
The Core Problem and a Way Ahead
Whatever happens with this particular battle, the larger issue remains.
“The present media landscape is a profoundly system hostile to democracy, but we ought not succumb to the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard emphasized. Policy decisions – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this hyper-commercialized monster, and new policy decisions can tackle it.
Can reform occur in an era where the head of the FCC will not confirm that the agency is independent? Change is very unlikely now, but that doesn’t mean it will be impossible forever.
Policies that strengthen independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, fund public media, and outlaw the accumulation of media power in too few hands are achievable – they are essential for a healthy democracy.
Regarding media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations including CNN cannot be pieces in the newest merger game.
