This past Thursday night, while unconfirmed reports spread concerning an incident at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, noting the confusion and guiding the public to her network’s 9pm newscast.
While the network is hardly a perfect news source, her message rang true to many. It remains one of the broadcasters where you can find grounded and generally reliable reporting – particularly during fast-moving events like the one developing in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious Situation During a High-Stakes Tug-of-War
But CNN, now 45 years old, finds itself in a precarious situation as two huge media corporations battle over ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the destiny of CNN has become part of a major game of corporate ownership, not as a question of what benefits the news-consuming public.
“This is yet another example of the deep structural problems with roots in decades of regulatory actions,” noted Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Penn.
The conjecture 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 societal benefit,” Pickard explained.
The Complicating Element: The Former President
The CNN scenario 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 cries of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his administration’s punitive withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in official meetings.
Trump now claims that CNN needs new ownership. Many see this as a desire for ownership that will protect him from criticism and scrutiny. That is one reason why he appears to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.
There is a basis to prefer that bidder more. For one thing, it is run 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 installed the conservative Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that storied news network.
A Future of More Instability
Notably, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a separate entity. Such a move could be a relief to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a secure position. That structure could pave the way for CNN for another sale. It never ends.
If you ask Timothy Wu, much of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance stated that anti-trust laws should disallow both deals.
“Either merger would be bad for the country, and both should be challenged by the government,” Wu stated.
The Bigger Issue and a Path Forward
Whatever happens in this situation, the underlying crisis persists.
“Our current system is a highly system hostile to democracy, but we ought not succumb to a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard said. Policy decisions – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this hyper-commercialized monster, and revised policy decisions can fix it.
Will that happen in an era where the head of the FCC will not confirm that the agency is independent? Overhaul is highly improbable now, but that doesn’t mean it will never happen.
Policies that bolster independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, subsidize public media, and prevent the concentration of media power in very few hands are achievable – they are vital for a functioning democracy.
Regarding media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations including CNN cannot be pieces in the newest merger game.
