On Thursday evening, amid swirling speculation concerning the Brown University gunman, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins took to social media, pointing out the conflicting information and pointing viewers 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 remains one of the organizations where you can find grounded and largely dependable reporting – especially during fast-moving events such as the one developing in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Vulnerable Position Amid a Corporate Tug-of-War
Yet the news network, now 45 years old, finds itself in a vulnerable position as two huge media corporations vie for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
No matter the result, the future of CNN has become part of a high-stakes game of mergers and acquisitions, instead of as a question of what serves the news-consuming public.
“Here is one more case of the fundamental flaws with roots in decades of regulatory actions,” said Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Pennsylvania University.
The speculation about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – could it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a larger point.
“It is often framed as a business story with key players as the protagonists, but there is scant discussion of the public interest,” Pickard said.
A Further Factor: The Former President
The network's predicament is made more complex by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his chief “fake news” antagonist.
Think back to the chants of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his administration’s punitive revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in official meetings.
Trump now says that CNN needs new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will protect him from journalistic oversight. That is a factor in why he appears to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.
There is a basis to favor that suitor more. For one thing, it is led by David Ellison, son of the ally of Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
Paramount, 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 venerable news network.
An Outcome of Further Turmoil
Notably, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a independent unit. Such a move could be a relief to many at the network, but it’s hardly a safe harbor. That structure could pave the way for CNN for a future sale. The cycle continues.
In the view of Timothy Wu, much of this is against the law, anyway. The well-known analyst 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 regulators,” Wu stated.
The Bigger Issue and a Potential Solution
Regardless of the resolution in this situation, the larger issue persists.
“Our current system is a profoundly structure that undermines democracy, but we ought not succumb to learned helplessness,” Pickard noted. Government actions – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this hyper-commercialized monster, and different policy decisions can address it.
Is this likely in an era where the head of the FCC will not confirm that the agency is independent? Reform is a distant prospect now, but that is not to say it will never happen.
Initiatives that bolster independent news organizations, aid local journalism, fund public media, and prohibit the consolidation of media power in very few hands are not only possible – they are necessary for a functioning democracy.
Regarding media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations including CNN cannot be pieces in the most recent acquisition battle.
