Late Thursday, amid swirling speculation regarding an incident at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins used social media, pointing out the conflicting information and directing people to her channel's 9pm newscast.
Although the network is hardly a flawless news source, her words resonated to many. It stands as one of the broadcasters where you can find grounded and largely reliable reporting – notably during breaking news situations like the one developing in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.
An Uncertain Situation Amid a High-Stakes Tug-of-War
But CNN, now middle-aged, finds itself in a precarious state as two massive media conglomerates compete for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the destiny of CNN has become part of a high-risk game of corporate ownership, instead of as a question of what serves the news-consuming public.
“This is yet another example of the deep structural problems with origins in decades of policy decisions,” said 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 – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a broader point.
“It gets presented as a corporate drama with influential figures as the main characters, but there is hardly any discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard said.
The Additional Factor: Donald Trump
This situation is further muddied by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his primary “fake news” foe.
Think back to the chants of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his administration’s punitive suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in White House briefings.
Trump now says that the network requires new ownership. Many see this as a desire for ownership that will shield him from criticism and scrutiny. That is a factor in why he seems to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.
He has grounds to favor that company more. For one thing, it is led by David Ellison, son of the ally of Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
Paramount, parent of CBS News, also recently appointed the conservative Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that storied news network.
An Outcome of Further Instability
Significantly, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a separate entity. This might be a relief to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a guarantee of stability. That arrangement could set up CNN for another sale. It never ends.
In the view of Timothy Wu, much of this is illegal, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance recently argued that competition laws should prohibit both deals.
“Both acquisition attempts would be detrimental to the country, and both should be opposed by regulators,” Wu argued.
The Core Challenge and a Path Forward
No matter the outcome regarding CNN, the underlying crisis persists.
“What we have now is a profoundly structure that undermines democracy, but we ought not succumb to a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard noted. Government actions – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this profit-obsessed monster, and different policy decisions can tackle it.
Will that happen in an era where the head of the FCC refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Overhaul is highly improbable now, but that doesn’t mean it will be impossible forever.
Initiatives that support independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, subsidize public media, and prevent the accumulation of media power in too few hands are within reach – they are essential for a robust democracy.
Regarding media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations including CNN must not be pieces in the latest acquisition battle.
