Late Thursday, while unconfirmed reports spread about an incident at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins took to social media, highlighting the uncertainty and guiding the public to her network’s 9pm newscast.
Even though the network is hardly a perfect news source, her message rang true for a lot of people. It stands as one of the organizations where you can find grounded and largely dependable reporting – especially during breaking news situations such as the one taking place near a New Hampshire storage facility.
An Uncertain State During a Business Battle
But the news network, now 45 years old, finds itself in a precarious situation as two huge media empires compete for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Regardless of who wins, the destiny of CNN has become part of a major game of mergers and acquisitions, not as a question of what helps the information-seeking public.
“This is yet another example of the profound systemic issues with roots in many years of regulatory actions,” said Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy 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 gets presented as a financial tale with key players as the central actors, but there is scant discussion of the common good,” Pickard said.
The Additional Element: The Former President
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” foe.
Remember the chants of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his team's disciplinary suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in press briefings.
Trump now asserts that CNN needs new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will shield him from negative coverage and examination. That is part of why he appears to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.
He has grounds to favor that company more. For one thing, it is run by David Ellison, son of the Trump-friendly Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
Paramount, parent of CBS News, also recently installed the conservative Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that venerable news network.
A Possibility of More Instability
Notably, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a independent unit. That would be a relief to many at the network, but it’s hardly a secure position. That arrangement could set up CNN for yet another acquisition. The cycle continues.
In the view of Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is against the law, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance recently argued that anti-trust laws should disallow both deals.
“Either merger would be harmful to the country, and both should be challenged by regulators,” Wu recently wrote.
The Fundamental Issue and a Path Forward
Regardless of the resolution regarding CNN, the underlying crisis endures.
“What we have now 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 hyper-commercialized monster, and new policy decisions can address 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.
Policies that strengthen independent news organizations, aid local journalism, fund public media, and prevent the concentration of media power in very few hands are within reach – they are vital for a healthy democracy.
Regarding media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations such as CNN shouldn’t be tools in the newest corporate chess match.
