Late Thursday, as rumors swirled concerning the Brown University gunman, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins used social media, noting the confusion and guiding the public to her channel's 9pm newscast.
Although the network is hardly a perfect news source, her words rang true for a lot of people. It is one of the organizations where there exists grounded and generally trustworthy reporting – especially during fast-moving events like the one developing in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Vulnerable Position Amid a High-Stakes Battle
Yet CNN, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a uncertain state as two huge media conglomerates battle over ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the fate of CNN has been drawn into a high-risk game of mergers and acquisitions, not as a question of what serves the news-consuming public.
“This represents another instance of the deep structural problems with origins in decades of policy decisions,” stated Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy at the University of Pennsylvania.
The speculation about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a broader point.
“It is often framed as a financial tale with influential figures as the central actors, but there is scant discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard explained.
The Complicating Element: The Former President
This situation is made more complex by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his main “fake news” adversary.
Remember the cries of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his administration’s punitive withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his clashes with Collins in press briefings.
Trump now claims that the network requires new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will insulate him from journalistic oversight. That is one reason why he appears to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.
Trump has reason to prefer that suitor more. For one thing, it is led by David Ellison, son of the Trump-friendly Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
Paramount, owner of CBS News, also recently placed the conservative Bari Weiss, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief 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. That would be a relief to many at the network, but it’s far from a safe harbor. That structure could set up CNN for another sale. It never ends.
If you ask Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is against the law, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that anti-trust laws should block both deals.
“Both acquisition attempts would be harmful to the country, and both should be contested by regulators,” Wu argued.
The Core Issue and a Path Forward
No matter the outcome in this situation, the larger issue remains.
“The present media landscape is a very system hostile to democracy, but we must resist learned helplessness,” Pickard noted. Government actions – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this hyper-commercialized monster, and revised policy decisions can address it.
Is this likely in an era where the top communications regulator refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Reform is a distant prospect now, but that should not imply it will not happen in the future.
Initiatives that strengthen independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, finance public media, and prohibit the accumulation of media power in a handful of hands are achievable – they are vital for a healthy democracy.
In the world of media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations like CNN cannot be tools in the most recent acquisition battle.
