On Thursday evening, amid swirling speculation regarding the Brown University gunman, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, pointing out the conflicting information and guiding the public to her network’s 9pm newscast.
Even though it is by no means a perfect news source, her message rang true for a lot of people. It is one of the outlets where one can locate reality-based and mostly dependable reporting – particularly during breaking news situations such as the one developing near a New Hampshire storage facility.
An Uncertain Situation During a Corporate Battle
But the news network, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a precarious state as two huge media conglomerates battle over ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the destiny of CNN has been drawn into a major game of corporate ownership, instead of as a question of what serves the information-seeking public.
“Here is one more case of the deep structural problems with roots in many years of policy decisions,” said Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Penn.
The conjecture about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a more important point.
“It gets presented as a corporate drama with key players as the main characters, but there is very little discussion of the public interest,” Pickard added.
The Additional Element: Donald Trump
The CNN scenario is complicated by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his main “fake news” antagonist.
Remember the cries of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his administration's retaliatory revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his clashes with Collins in White House briefings.
Trump now says that the network requires new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will shield him from journalistic oversight. That is a factor in why he seems to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
Trump has reason to prefer that suitor more. For one thing, it is controlled by David Ellison, son of the Trump-friendly Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
The company, owner of CBS News, also recently installed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that venerable news network.
A Future of Continued Turmoil
It is important to note, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a standalone company. This might be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a guarantee of stability. That setup could set up CNN for a future sale. The cycle continues.
According to Timothy Wu, a lot of this is illegal, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance recently argued that competition laws should disallow both deals.
“Both acquisition attempts would be detrimental to the country, and both should be opposed by the government,” Wu stated.
The Core Issue and a Way Ahead
Regardless of the resolution with this particular battle, the underlying crisis persists.
“The present media landscape is a very system hostile to democracy, but we must resist a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard emphasized. Government actions – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this overly commercial monster, and new policy decisions can address it.
Is this likely in an era where the head of the FCC will not confirm that the agency is independent? Change is a distant prospect now, but that should not imply it will be impossible forever.
Initiatives that bolster independent news organizations, aid local journalism, subsidize public media, and prohibit the consolidation of media power in a handful of hands are not only possible – they are vital for a healthy democracy.
In the world of media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations such as CNN cannot be tools in the latest merger game.
