Late Thursday, amid swirling speculation about a shooting at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins took to social media, noting the confusion and guiding the public to her network’s 9pm newscast.
Even though CNN is certainly not a impeccable news source, her message seemed accurate for a lot of people. It stands as one of the organizations where there exists reality-based and mostly dependable reporting – notably during breaking news situations such as the one taking place in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Vulnerable Position Amid a Corporate Struggle
However CNN, now 45 years old, finds itself in a vulnerable position as two giant media empires vie for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
No matter the result, the fate of CNN has turned into a high-stakes game of corporate ownership, instead of as a question of what serves the news-consuming public.
“Here is one more case of the deep structural problems with roots in many years of regulatory actions,” said Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the Penn.
The speculation about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – could it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a larger point.
“It is often framed as a financial tale with powerful individuals as the protagonists, but there is hardly any discussion of the common good,” Pickard explained.
The Additional Factor: Donald Trump
The CNN scenario is made more complex by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his main “fake news” adversary.
Remember the chants of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his administration's retaliatory revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his clashes with Collins in White House briefings.
Trump now claims that the network requires new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will insulate him from journalistic oversight. That is a factor in why he appears to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.
There is a basis to like that bidder 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.
The company, parent of CBS News, also recently installed the conservative Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that storied news network.
A Possibility of More Turmoil
It is important to note, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a separate entity. That would be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s far from a secure position. That arrangement could set up CNN for yet another acquisition. There is no finish line.
If you ask Timothy Wu, much of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance stated that competition laws should block both deals.
“Each proposed deal would be harmful to the country, and both should be opposed by the government,” Wu argued.
The Fundamental Issue and a Path Forward
Whatever happens in this situation, the larger issue persists.
“Our current system is a very system hostile to democracy, but we must resist a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard said. Regulatory choices – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this hyper-commercialized monster, and new policy decisions can address it.
Will that happen in an era where the head of the FCC refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Change is highly improbable now, but that should not imply it will be impossible forever.
Measures that strengthen independent news organizations, aid local journalism, fund public media, and prohibit the consolidation of media power in very few hands are within reach – they are essential for a healthy democracy.
When it comes to media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations including CNN shouldn’t be tools in the newest acquisition battle.
