This past Thursday night, amid swirling speculation concerning an incident at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins used social media, pointing out the conflicting information and pointing viewers to her channel's 9pm newscast.
Even though the network is hardly a perfect news source, her words rang true to many. It remains one of the broadcasters where one can locate reality-based and generally reliable reporting – notably during crises like the one unfolding near a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious Position During a Business Battle
Yet the news network, now 45 years old, finds itself in a vulnerable state as two huge media corporations vie for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the future of CNN has become part of a major game of business acquisition, rather than as a question of what benefits the news-consuming public.
“This is yet another example of the profound systemic issues with roots in decades of governmental choices,” noted Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy at the Penn.
The debate about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a more important point.
“It is often framed as a business story with powerful individuals as the main characters, but there is scant discussion of the public interest,” Pickard added.
The Additional Factor: Donald Trump
The network's predicament is complicated by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his primary “fake news” adversary.
Think back to the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his administration’s punitive suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his clashes with Collins in press briefings.
Trump now claims that CNN needs new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will insulate him from criticism and scrutiny. That is a factor in why he appears to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.
Trump has reason to like that suitor more. For one thing, it is controlled by David Ellison, son of the pro-Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
The company, parent of CBS News, also recently placed the conservative Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that historic news network.
A Future of Further Turmoil
It is important to note, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a independent unit. That would be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s far from a secure position. That arrangement could position CNN for yet another acquisition. There is no finish line.
In the view of 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.
“Both acquisition attempts would be bad for the country, and both should be contested by regulators,” Wu recently wrote.
The Core Issue and a Way Ahead
No matter the outcome regarding CNN, the larger issue endures.
“The present media landscape is a profoundly structure that undermines democracy, but we shouldn’t give in to learned helplessness,” Pickard emphasized. Regulatory choices – originating in 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 won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Reform is a distant prospect now, but that should not imply it will never happen.
Initiatives that strengthen independent news organizations, aid local journalism, subsidize public media, and outlaw the consolidation of media power in very few hands are not only possible – they are vital for a robust democracy.
In the world of media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations like CNN cannot be pieces in the newest corporate chess match.
