This past Thursday night, while unconfirmed reports spread about an incident at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, pointing out the conflicting information and directing people to her network’s 9pm newscast.
Even though the network is hardly a flawless news source, her message rang true for a lot of people. It remains one of the organizations where there exists grounded and largely trustworthy reporting – particularly during breaking news situations such as the one unfolding in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Vulnerable Position Amid a Business Tug-of-War
Yet CNN, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a vulnerable state as two massive media empires compete for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the future of CNN has turned into a high-stakes game of business acquisition, rather than as a question of what helps the information-seeking public.
“Here is one more case of the fundamental flaws with roots in many years of governmental choices,” said Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Penn.
The debate about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a more important point.
“It is often framed as a financial tale with powerful individuals as the protagonists, but there is very little discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard said.
The Additional Element: Political Influence
The network's predicament is further muddied by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his chief “fake news” adversary.
Remember the cries of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his administration’s punitive withdrawal 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. Many see this as a desire for ownership that will protect him from negative coverage and examination. That is one reason why he appears to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.
There is a basis to prefer that company more. For one thing, it is led by David Ellison, son of the pro-Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
Paramount, owner of CBS News, also recently installed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that storied news network.
A Possibility of Continued Uncertainty
It is important to note, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a independent unit. Such a move could be a relief to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a safe harbor. That arrangement could set up CNN for yet another acquisition. It never ends.
According to Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is against the law, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance recently argued that competition laws should prohibit both deals.
“Each proposed deal would be bad for the country, and both should be contested by regulators,” Wu stated.
The Fundamental Challenge and a Potential Solution
Regardless of the resolution in this situation, the larger issue endures.
“The present media landscape is a profoundly structure that undermines democracy, but we ought not succumb to the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard said. Regulatory choices – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this overly commercial monster, and revised policy decisions can tackle it.
Can reform occur in an era where the head of the FCC won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Overhaul is very unlikely now, but that doesn’t mean it will never happen.
Measures that support independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, fund public media, and outlaw the accumulation of media power in very few hands are achievable – they are vital for a functioning democracy.
Regarding media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations including CNN must not be pawns in the most recent merger game.
