Late Thursday, amid swirling speculation about a shooting at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins took to social media, pointing out the conflicting information and guiding the public to her channel's 9pm newscast.
Although the network is hardly a flawless news source, her message rang true for a lot of people. It is one of the outlets where one can locate fact-based and generally reliable reporting – particularly during crises such as the one developing close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
An Uncertain Situation During a Business Tug-of-War
Yet the news network, now 45 years old, finds itself in a uncertain situation as two giant media corporations battle over ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the fate of CNN has become part of a major game of business acquisition, not as a question of what benefits the news-consuming public.
“This is yet another example 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 conjecture about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – could it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a more important point.
“It gets presented as a business story with powerful individuals as the protagonists, but there is hardly any discussion of the common good,” Pickard said.
The Additional Factor: Political Influence
The network's predicament is complicated by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his chief “fake news” foe.
Remember the cries of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his administration's retaliatory withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in press briefings.
Trump now asserts that CNN needs new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will shield him from criticism and scrutiny. That is one reason why he appears to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.
He has grounds to prefer that bidder more. For one thing, it is controlled 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 placed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that storied news network.
An Outcome of Continued Instability
Notably, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a separate entity. That would be a relief to many at the network, but it’s far from a safe harbor. That structure could pave the way for CNN for another sale. The cycle continues.
If you ask Timothy Wu, much of this is illegal, anyway. The influential voice 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 regulators,” Wu stated.
The Core Issue and a Path Forward
Regardless of the resolution in this situation, the larger issue endures.
“What we have now is a very anti-democratic system, but we ought not succumb to learned helplessness,” Pickard emphasized. Government actions – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this profit-obsessed monster, and revised policy decisions can address it.
Is this likely in an era where the top communications regulator won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Reform is highly improbable now, but that doesn’t mean it will be impossible forever.
Policies that support independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, fund public media, and prevent the consolidation of media power in too few hands are within reach – they are essential for a functioning democracy.
Regarding media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations such as CNN shouldn’t be pieces in the newest acquisition battle.
