This past Thursday night, amid swirling speculation concerning a shooting at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins used social media, noting the confusion and guiding the public to her channel's 9pm newscast.
Even though it is by no means a flawless news source, her words seemed accurate to many. It is one of the organizations where one can locate fact-based and generally reliable reporting – particularly during breaking news situations like the one unfolding near a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious State During a High-Stakes Struggle
But the news network, now middle-aged, finds itself in a precarious state as two massive media conglomerates vie for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
No matter the result, the fate of CNN has become part of a high-risk game of corporate ownership, rather than as a question of what serves the news-consuming public.
“This represents another instance of the fundamental flaws with origins in many years of regulatory actions,” said Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Penn.
The debate about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a broader point.
“The narrative is crafted as a financial tale with influential figures as the central actors, but there is very little discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard explained.
A Further Factor: Donald Trump
The network's predicament is complicated by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his chief “fake news” foe.
Recall the cries of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his administration's retaliatory revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his clashes with Collins in White House briefings.
Trump now asserts that the network requires new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will insulate him from criticism and scrutiny. That is a factor in why he seems to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.
He has grounds 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.
The company, owner of CBS News, also recently installed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that historic news network.
A Future of Continued Instability
Notably, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a independent unit. This might be a relief to many at the network, but it’s far from a safe harbor. That arrangement could set up CNN for yet another acquisition. The cycle continues.
If you ask Timothy Wu, much of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance recently argued that competition laws should prohibit both deals.
“Each proposed deal would be harmful to the country, and both should be challenged by regulators,” Wu recently wrote.
The Bigger Problem and a Path Forward
No matter the outcome in this situation, the bigger problem persists.
“What we have now is a highly system hostile to democracy, but we ought not succumb to a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard noted. Policy decisions – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this overly commercial monster, and revised policy decisions can tackle it.
Will that happen in an era where the top communications regulator refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Overhaul is a distant prospect now, but that doesn’t mean it will be impossible forever.
Measures that support independent news organizations, aid local journalism, fund public media, and prevent the consolidation of media power in a handful of hands are within reach – they are necessary for a functioning democracy.
When it comes to media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations such as CNN shouldn’t be pieces in the most recent acquisition battle.
