On Thursday evening, amid swirling speculation about the Brown University gunman, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins took to social media, highlighting the uncertainty and pointing viewers to her network’s 9pm newscast.
Even though CNN is certainly not a flawless news source, her words seemed accurate to many. It remains one of the outlets where one can locate fact-based and mostly dependable reporting – especially during fast-moving events like the one developing near a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Vulnerable Position During a Business Struggle
Yet the news network, now middle-aged, finds itself in a precarious situation as two massive media conglomerates battle over ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the destiny of CNN has turned into a high-stakes game of corporate ownership, rather than as a question of what helps the news-consuming public.
“This represents another instance of the fundamental flaws with roots in decades of policy decisions,” stated Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the Pennsylvania University.
The debate 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 business story with influential figures as the protagonists, but there is hardly any discussion of the common good,” Pickard added.
The Complicating Factor: The Former President
This situation is further muddied by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his main “fake news” adversary.
Think back to the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his team's disciplinary revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in White House briefings.
Trump now claims that CNN needs new ownership. Many see this as a desire for ownership that will shield him from journalistic oversight. That is one reason why he seems to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
There is a basis to like that company more. For one thing, it is run by David Ellison, son of the ally of 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 editor-in-chief of that venerable news network.
A Future of Further Turmoil
Notably, 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 guarantee of stability. That arrangement could pave the way for CNN for yet another acquisition. It never ends.
If you ask Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is against the law, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance stated that competition laws should prohibit both deals.
“Either merger would be detrimental to the country, and both should be challenged by anti-trust authorities,” Wu argued.
The Core Issue and a Way Ahead
Whatever happens in this situation, the bigger problem endures.
“Our current system is a very anti-democratic system, but we shouldn’t give in to a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard noted. Government actions – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this overly commercial monster, and new policy decisions can tackle it.
Can reform occur in an era where the head of the FCC refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Overhaul is a distant prospect now, but that is not to say it will never happen.
Measures that strengthen independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, subsidize public media, and outlaw the accumulation of media power in too few hands are achievable – 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 latest corporate chess match.
