This past Thursday night, amid swirling speculation concerning the Brown University gunman, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins used social media, pointing out the conflicting information and guiding the public to her channel's 9pm newscast.
While the network is hardly a perfect news source, her words seemed accurate for a lot of people. It stands as one of the broadcasters where there exists grounded and largely dependable reporting – notably during crises like the one unfolding close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious Situation Amid a Corporate Struggle
Yet the news network, now middle-aged, finds itself in a precarious situation as two giant media empires vie for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the fate of CNN has become part of a high-stakes game of corporate ownership, not as a question of what serves the news-consuming public.
“Here is one more case of the fundamental flaws with origins in decades of policy decisions,” noted Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the University of Pennsylvania.
The debate about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a larger point.
“It gets presented as a business story with key players as the central actors, but there is scant discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard added.
The Additional Element: Donald Trump
The network's predicament is further muddied by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his primary “fake news” adversary.
Think back to the chants of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his team's disciplinary revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in official meetings.
Trump now says that the network requires new ownership. Many see this as a desire for ownership that will protect him from criticism and scrutiny. That is part of why he seems to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.
He has grounds to like that bidder more. For one thing, it is led by David Ellison, son of the ally of Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
Paramount, parent of CBS News, also recently installed the conservative Bari Weiss, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that venerable news network.
A Future of Continued Instability
Notably, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a independent unit. That would be a relief to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a guarantee of stability. That setup could pave the way for CNN for a future sale. There is no finish line.
If you ask Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is against the law, anyway. The influential voice 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 Bigger Challenge and a Way Ahead
Whatever happens with this particular battle, the larger issue endures.
“Our current system is a very system hostile to democracy, but we ought not succumb to learned helplessness,” Pickard said. Government actions – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this profit-obsessed monster, and revised policy decisions can address 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 be impossible forever.
Initiatives that bolster independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, subsidize public media, and prevent the accumulation of media power in too few hands are achievable – they are vital for a robust democracy.
In the world of media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations like CNN must not be pieces in the newest acquisition battle.
