Late Thursday, amid swirling speculation about the Brown University gunman, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, highlighting the uncertainty and pointing viewers to her channel's 9pm newscast.
Even though the network is hardly a impeccable news source, her statement resonated to many. It is one of the organizations where there exists fact-based and generally trustworthy reporting – particularly during breaking news situations such as the one taking place in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious State Amid a Business Battle
Yet the news network, now middle-aged, finds itself in a precarious state as two giant media corporations battle over ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
No matter the result, the destiny of CNN has become part of a high-stakes game of business acquisition, not as a question of what benefits the news-consuming public.
“Here is one more case of the deep structural problems with roots in many years of governmental choices,” noted Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy 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 financial tale with key players as the central actors, but there is hardly any discussion of the common good,” Pickard said.
The Complicating Element: Political Influence
The network's predicament is complicated by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his main “fake news” foe.
Recall the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his administration's retaliatory revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in official meetings.
Trump now says that CNN needs new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will insulate him from negative coverage and examination. That is part of why he appears to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.
He has grounds to prefer that suitor more. For one thing, it is run by David Ellison, son of the Trump-friendly Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
Paramount, parent of CBS News, also recently installed the conservative Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that storied news network.
A Future of More Turmoil
Significantly, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a separate entity. This might be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s far from a guarantee of stability. That arrangement could position CNN for another sale. There is no finish line.
According to Timothy Wu, a lot of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that anti-trust laws should prohibit both deals.
“Both acquisition attempts would be detrimental to the country, and both should be contested by the government,” Wu recently wrote.
The Bigger Challenge and a Potential Solution
No matter the outcome in this situation, the larger issue persists.
“Our current system is a highly structure that undermines democracy, but we must resist a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard noted. Regulatory choices – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this overly commercial monster, and revised policy decisions can fix it.
Is this likely in an era where the top communications regulator will not confirm that the agency is independent? Reform is very unlikely now, but that should not imply it will be impossible forever.
Measures that strengthen independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, fund public media, and prevent the concentration of media power in a handful of hands are achievable – they are necessary for a healthy democracy.
When it comes to media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations such as CNN shouldn’t be tools in the newest corporate chess match.
