Late Thursday, amid swirling speculation regarding an incident at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins used social media, pointing out the conflicting information and guiding the public to her channel's 9pm newscast.
Although it is by no means a flawless news source, her words rang true to many. It is one of the broadcasters where one can locate grounded and generally reliable reporting – notably during fast-moving events like the one developing in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.
An Uncertain Situation Amid a Business Struggle
But the news network, now 45 years old, finds itself in a uncertain position as two huge media corporations vie for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
No matter the result, the destiny of CNN has turned into a high-risk game of mergers and acquisitions, instead of as a question of what serves the information-seeking public.
“Here is one more case of the deep structural problems with origins in many years of governmental choices,” noted Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy at the Pennsylvania University.
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 central actors, but there is hardly any discussion of the public interest,” Pickard added.
The Complicating Layer: The Former President
This situation is complicated by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his primary “fake news” adversary.
Recall the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his administration's retaliatory suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in press briefings.
Trump now says that CNN needs new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will insulate him from criticism and scrutiny. That is a factor in why he seems to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.
There is a basis to prefer that bidder more. For one thing, it is controlled by David Ellison, son of the ally of Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
Paramount, owner of CBS News, also recently placed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that historic news network.
A Possibility of Further Turmoil
Significantly, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a independent unit. That would be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s hardly a secure position. That structure could set up CNN for yet another acquisition. There is no finish line.
In the view of Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is against the law, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance stated that competition laws should disallow both deals.
“Both acquisition attempts would be harmful to the country, and both should be contested by the government,” Wu recently wrote.
The Bigger Challenge and a Path Forward
No matter the outcome in this situation, the bigger problem remains.
“The present media landscape is a highly structure that undermines democracy, but we must resist a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard emphasized. Regulatory choices – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this hyper-commercialized monster, and different policy decisions can fix it.
Is this likely in an era where the head of the FCC will not confirm that the agency is independent? Overhaul is very unlikely now, but that doesn’t mean it will not happen in the future.
Measures that support independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, subsidize public media, and prevent the consolidation of media power in a handful of hands are within reach – they are necessary for a robust democracy.
Regarding media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations like CNN must not be pieces in the latest acquisition battle.
