This past Thursday night, while unconfirmed reports spread regarding the Brown University gunman, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins took to social media, highlighting the uncertainty and directing people to her channel's 9pm newscast.
While it is by no means a perfect news source, her message resonated for numerous observers. It is one of the outlets where one can locate reality-based and mostly trustworthy reporting – especially during breaking news situations like the one developing near a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious Position During a Corporate Tug-of-War
Yet CNN, now middle-aged, finds itself in a uncertain position as two giant media empires battle over ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
No matter the result, the destiny of CNN has been drawn into a major game of business acquisition, not as a question of what helps the news-consuming public.
“This is yet another example of the profound systemic issues with origins in many years of governmental choices,” stated Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the Penn.
The speculation about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a larger point.
“The narrative is crafted as a financial tale with key players as the main characters, but there is hardly any discussion of the common good,” Pickard added.
The Complicating Layer: The Former President
The CNN scenario is further muddied by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his primary “fake news” adversary.
Think back to the chants of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his team's disciplinary suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in White House briefings.
Trump now says that the network requires new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will protect him from criticism and scrutiny. That is part of why he appears to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
There is a basis to like that bidder more. For one thing, it is run by David Ellison, son of the pro-Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
Paramount, parent of CBS News, also recently appointed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that historic news network.
An Outcome of Further Turmoil
It is important to note, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a independent unit. Such a move could be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a secure position. That setup could pave the way for CNN for yet another acquisition. The cycle continues.
If you ask Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is against the law, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance recently argued that anti-trust laws should prohibit both deals.
“Either merger would be bad for the country, and both should be opposed by the government,” Wu argued.
The Bigger Issue and a Path Forward
Whatever happens regarding CNN, the underlying crisis remains.
“Our current system is a profoundly system hostile to democracy, but we must resist learned helplessness,” Pickard emphasized. Policy decisions – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this profit-obsessed monster, and different policy decisions can tackle it.
Will that happen in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair will not confirm that the agency is independent? Overhaul is highly improbable now, but that should not imply it will never happen.
Measures that strengthen independent news organizations, aid local journalism, subsidize public media, and outlaw the consolidation of media power in a handful of hands are within reach – they are essential for a functioning democracy.
When it comes to media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations including CNN cannot be pawns in the most recent merger game.
