This past Thursday night, while unconfirmed reports spread concerning the Brown University gunman, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins used social media, noting the confusion and directing people to her channel's 9pm newscast.
Although the network is hardly a impeccable news source, her statement seemed accurate for a lot of people. It stands as one of the outlets where one can locate fact-based and mostly dependable reporting – particularly during breaking news situations like the one developing near a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Vulnerable Situation During a High-Stakes Tug-of-War
However the news network, now 45 years old, finds itself in a vulnerable position as two giant media empires battle over ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
No matter the result, the future of CNN has been drawn into a high-risk game of corporate ownership, rather than as a question of what serves the news-consuming public.
“Here is one more case of the profound systemic issues with origins in many years of regulatory actions,” said Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the University of Pennsylvania.
The speculation about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a broader point.
“It is often framed as a financial tale with key players as the central actors, but there is hardly any discussion of the common good,” Pickard explained.
The Complicating Element: Political Influence
This situation is further muddied by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his primary “fake news” antagonist.
Think back to the chants of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his administration's retaliatory withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in press briefings.
Trump now says that CNN needs new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will shield him from journalistic oversight. That is part of why he seems to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
He has grounds to like that company 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.
Paramount, owner of CBS News, also recently installed the conservative Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that venerable news network.
A Possibility of Continued Uncertainty
Notably, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a independent unit. That would be a relief to many at the network, but it’s hardly a guarantee of stability. That structure could position CNN for yet another acquisition. It never ends.
If you ask Timothy Wu, much of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance recently argued that competition laws should disallow both deals.
“Both acquisition attempts would be detrimental to the country, and both should be opposed by anti-trust authorities,” Wu stated.
The Core Challenge and a Path Forward
Whatever happens with this particular battle, the bigger problem remains.
“The present media landscape is a highly anti-democratic system, but we shouldn’t give in to learned helplessness,” Pickard said. Policy decisions – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this hyper-commercialized monster, and different policy decisions can fix it.
Can reform occur in an era where the head of the FCC refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Reform is very unlikely now, but that should not imply it will not happen in the future.
Policies that support independent news organizations, aid local journalism, finance public media, and prohibit the concentration of media power in too few hands are achievable – they are vital for a functioning democracy.
In the world of media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations like CNN must not be pawns in the latest acquisition battle.
