On Thursday evening, while unconfirmed reports spread regarding an incident at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, pointing out the conflicting information and directing people to her channel's 9pm newscast.
Even though the network is hardly a perfect news source, her statement rang true for numerous observers. It remains one of the outlets where there exists reality-based and largely trustworthy reporting – notably during breaking news situations like the one unfolding near a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Vulnerable Position Amid a Business Battle
But the news network, now 45 years old, finds itself in a uncertain position as two giant media conglomerates battle over ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the fate of CNN has turned into a high-stakes game of corporate ownership, rather than as a question of what helps the information-seeking public.
“This represents another instance of the profound systemic issues with origins in decades of regulatory actions,” stated Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the Penn.
The conjecture about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a broader point.
“The narrative is crafted as a business story with powerful individuals as the protagonists, but there is scant discussion of the public interest,” Pickard added.
The Additional Factor: Donald Trump
This situation is made more complex by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his primary “fake news” antagonist.
Remember the chants of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his administration’s punitive revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his clashes with Collins in press briefings.
Trump now says that CNN needs new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will shield him from negative coverage and examination. That is a factor in why he seems to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.
Trump has reason to favor that bidder 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 installed the conservative Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that historic news network.
An Outcome of Continued Turmoil
It is important to note, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a standalone company. This might be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a safe harbor. That arrangement could position CNN for yet another acquisition. It never ends.
In the view of Timothy Wu, a lot of this is against the law, anyway. The influential voice 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 contested by anti-trust authorities,” Wu stated.
The Core Problem and a Way Ahead
Regardless of the resolution with this particular battle, the larger issue endures.
“The present media landscape is a profoundly structure that undermines democracy, but we ought not succumb to the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard said. Regulatory choices – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this profit-obsessed monster, and revised policy decisions can fix it.
Is this likely in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Change is very unlikely now, but that is not to say it will not happen in the future.
Initiatives that strengthen independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, finance public media, and outlaw the concentration of media power in too few hands are not only possible – they are necessary for a healthy democracy.
In the world of media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations like CNN must not be pawns in the newest acquisition battle.
