On Thursday evening, amid swirling speculation concerning the Brown University gunman, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins used social media, noting the confusion and pointing viewers to her network’s 9pm newscast.
Even though it is by no means a perfect news source, her message seemed accurate for a lot of people. It is one of the outlets where one can locate fact-based and mostly reliable reporting – particularly during breaking news situations like the one developing near a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Vulnerable Situation During a Business Battle
However the news network, now middle-aged, finds itself in a precarious state as two giant media empires vie for ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the future of CNN has become part of a high-risk game of mergers and acquisitions, instead of as a question of what benefits the news-consuming public.
“Here is one more case of the deep structural problems with roots in many years of regulatory actions,” said Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Pennsylvania University.
The speculation about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – could it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a broader point.
“The narrative is crafted as a corporate drama with influential figures as the protagonists, but there is hardly any discussion of the public interest,” Pickard explained.
The Additional Factor: Donald Trump
The CNN scenario is further muddied by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his main “fake news” adversary.
Think back to the cries of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his team's disciplinary withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his clashes with Collins in official meetings.
Trump now claims that CNN needs new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will insulate him from negative coverage and examination. That is part of why he seems to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
He has grounds to prefer that company more. For one thing, it is run 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 top editor of that storied news network.
A Possibility of More Uncertainty
Significantly, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a independent unit. This might be a relief to many at the network, but it’s not exactly 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 lot of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance stated that competition laws should block both deals.
“Both acquisition attempts would be harmful to the country, and both should be opposed by the government,” Wu stated.
The Core Issue and a Path Forward
Whatever happens in this situation, the underlying crisis endures.
“Our current system is a profoundly structure that undermines democracy, but we shouldn’t give in to the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard said. Policy decisions – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this hyper-commercialized monster, and different policy decisions can fix it.
Can reform occur in an era where the head of the FCC refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Reform is highly improbable now, but that should not imply it will never happen.
Initiatives that support independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, fund public media, and prevent the concentration of media power in very few hands are achievable – they are vital for a robust democracy.
When it comes to media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations including CNN cannot be pieces in the newest acquisition battle.
