Late Thursday, while unconfirmed reports spread about a shooting at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins used social media, highlighting the uncertainty and guiding the public to her channel's 9pm newscast.
Although CNN is certainly not a flawless news source, her statement seemed accurate for a lot of people. It stands as one of the organizations where you can find fact-based and mostly dependable reporting – notably during fast-moving events like the one unfolding in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.
An Uncertain Position Amid a Corporate Tug-of-War
But the news network, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a uncertain situation as two huge media empires vie for 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 represents another instance of the deep structural problems with origins in many years of policy decisions,” said Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Pennsylvania University.
The speculation about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a broader point.
“The narrative is crafted as a business story with key players as the main characters, but there is hardly any discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard explained.
The Complicating Element: Political Influence
The network's predicament is further muddied by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his primary “fake news” adversary.
Remember the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his administration’s punitive suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in press briefings.
Trump now says that the network requires new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will protect him from criticism and scrutiny. That is a factor in why he appears to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
There is a basis to favor 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, owner of CBS News, also recently installed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that historic news network.
An Outcome of Further Turmoil
It is important to note, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a separate entity. That would be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a secure position. That arrangement could pave the way for CNN for yet another acquisition. It never ends.
In the view of Timothy Wu, a lot of this is against the law, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance stated that competition laws should disallow both deals.
“Each proposed deal would be harmful to the country, and both should be contested by anti-trust authorities,” Wu stated.
The Core Problem and a Potential Solution
No matter the outcome regarding CNN, the larger issue endures.
“The present media landscape is a highly anti-democratic system, but we shouldn’t give in to a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard said. Regulatory choices – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this profit-obsessed monster, and different policy decisions can fix it.
Is this likely in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair will not confirm that the agency is independent? Overhaul is a distant prospect now, but that should not imply it will never happen.
Policies that strengthen independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, fund public media, and prevent the accumulation of media power in a handful of hands are within reach – they are vital for a healthy democracy.
Regarding media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations including CNN must not be tools in the newest acquisition battle.
