Late Thursday, as rumors swirled about an incident at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins used social media, highlighting the uncertainty and guiding the public to her network’s 9pm newscast.
Even though the network is hardly a impeccable news source, her words resonated for numerous observers. It stands as one of the outlets where you can find grounded and mostly trustworthy reporting – notably during crises like the one developing close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Vulnerable Position Amid a Corporate Battle
Yet CNN, now middle-aged, finds itself in a uncertain situation as two huge media conglomerates battle over ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
Regardless of who wins, the destiny of CNN has become part of a high-risk game of business acquisition, not as a question of what serves the news-consuming public.
“Here is one more case of the profound systemic issues with origins in many years of governmental choices,” stated Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Penn.
The debate about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a broader point.
“The narrative is crafted as a financial tale with key players as the protagonists, but there is hardly any discussion of the common good,” Pickard said.
A Further Factor: Political Influence
The CNN scenario is complicated by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his primary “fake news” foe.
Think back to the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his administration's retaliatory suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his clashes with Collins in official meetings.
Trump now says that the network requires new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will insulate him from criticism and scrutiny. That is part of why he appears to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.
Trump has reason to favor that suitor more. For one thing, it is controlled 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 right-leaning Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top 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 separated into a separate entity. This might be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a guarantee of stability. That arrangement could position CNN for yet another acquisition. It never ends.
According to Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance stated that competition laws should block both deals.
“Each proposed deal would be detrimental to the country, and both should be challenged by regulators,” Wu stated.
The Core Challenge and a Potential Solution
Whatever happens in this situation, the underlying crisis persists.
“Our current system is a highly structure that undermines democracy, but we ought not succumb to a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard noted. Government actions – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this profit-obsessed monster, and different policy decisions can tackle it.
Is this likely in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Change is a distant prospect now, but that is not to say it will be impossible forever.
Policies that support independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, fund public media, and prohibit the consolidation of media power in too few hands are achievable – they are necessary for a healthy democracy.
Regarding media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations such as CNN must not be tools in the latest acquisition battle.
