Late Thursday, while unconfirmed reports spread regarding the Brown University gunman, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins used social media, highlighting the uncertainty and pointing viewers to her network’s 9pm newscast.
Although it is by no means a flawless news source, her words resonated for a lot of people. It remains one of the broadcasters where one can locate reality-based and largely reliable reporting – notably during crises such as the one developing near a New Hampshire storage facility.
An Uncertain Situation During a Corporate Tug-of-War
Yet CNN, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a vulnerable position as two huge media conglomerates battle over ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
Regardless of who wins, the destiny of CNN has been drawn into a major game of business acquisition, not as a question of what benefits the news-consuming public.
“This represents another instance 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 University of Pennsylvania.
The speculation about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – could it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a more important point.
“It is often framed as a business story with key players as the main characters, but there is scant discussion of the common good,” Pickard said.
The Complicating Layer: Donald Trump
The CNN scenario is made more complex by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his primary “fake news” antagonist.
Remember the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his administration's retaliatory suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in official meetings.
Trump now claims that the network requires new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will shield him from journalistic oversight. That is one reason why he appears to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
Trump has reason 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.
The company, parent of CBS News, also recently installed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that storied news network.
An Outcome of Continued Instability
Notably, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a independent unit. That would be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s far from a secure position. That setup could set up CNN for yet another acquisition. The cycle continues.
According to Timothy Wu, a lot of this is illegal, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance stated that anti-trust laws should disallow both deals.
“Each proposed deal would be harmful to the country, and both should be contested by regulators,” Wu stated.
The Core Problem and a Potential Solution
No matter the outcome with this particular battle, the bigger problem endures.
“The present media landscape is a highly structure that undermines democracy, but we shouldn’t give in to the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard emphasized. Regulatory choices – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this profit-obsessed monster, and new policy decisions can fix it.
Will that happen in an era where the top communications regulator will not confirm that the agency is independent? Reform is very unlikely now, but that should not imply it will not happen in the future.
Measures that bolster independent news organizations, aid local journalism, subsidize public media, and outlaw the concentration of media power in very few hands are achievable – they are necessary for a functioning democracy.
Regarding media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations including CNN must not be pieces in the latest acquisition battle.
