On Thursday evening, amid swirling speculation concerning a shooting at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, highlighting the uncertainty and guiding the public to her network’s 9pm newscast.
While the network is hardly a flawless news source, her message resonated for numerous observers. It stands as one of the outlets where one can locate fact-based and generally dependable reporting – notably during fast-moving events such as the one taking place close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious Position During a High-Stakes Tug-of-War
However CNN, now middle-aged, finds itself in a uncertain situation as two massive media corporations vie for ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the future of CNN has been drawn into a high-risk game of corporate ownership, rather than as a question of what helps the news-consuming public.
“This represents another instance of the fundamental flaws with origins in decades of policy decisions,” stated Victor Pickard, author 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 broader point.
“It is often framed as a business story with powerful individuals as the main characters, but there is scant discussion of the public interest,” Pickard explained.
A Further Element: Donald Trump
The network's predicament is made more complex by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his main “fake news” antagonist.
Recall the chants of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his administration’s punitive revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in White House briefings.
Trump now asserts that the network requires new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will shield him from criticism and scrutiny. That is one reason why he seems to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
Trump has reason to like 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 installed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that venerable news network.
A Possibility of Continued Instability
Significantly, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a standalone company. That would be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s far from a safe harbor. That setup could set up CNN for another sale. There is no finish line.
According to Timothy Wu, much of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance stated that anti-trust laws should prohibit both deals.
“Each proposed deal would be bad for the country, and both should be challenged by the government,” Wu stated.
The Core Problem and a Path Forward
No matter the outcome regarding CNN, the underlying crisis remains.
“Our current system is a highly system hostile to democracy, but we ought not succumb to learned helplessness,” Pickard said. Government actions – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this hyper-commercialized monster, and new policy decisions can address it.
Will that happen in an era where the top communications regulator won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Reform is highly improbable now, but that doesn’t mean it will be impossible forever.
Initiatives that strengthen independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, fund public media, and prevent the accumulation of media power in a handful of hands are not only possible – they are necessary for a robust democracy.
In the world of media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations like CNN must not be pawns in the latest merger game.