Late Thursday, while unconfirmed reports spread about an incident at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins took to social media, highlighting the uncertainty and guiding the public to her channel's 9pm newscast.
While the network is hardly a flawless news source, her statement resonated for a lot of people. It stands as one of the broadcasters where you can find fact-based and mostly trustworthy reporting – notably during crises such as the one unfolding close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious State During a High-Stakes Tug-of-War
However the news network, now 45 years old, finds itself in a precarious position as two massive media conglomerates battle over ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
No matter the result, the destiny of CNN has been drawn into a high-stakes game of corporate ownership, not as a question of what serves the information-seeking public.
“This is yet another example of the deep structural problems with roots in decades of regulatory actions,” said Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy at the Pennsylvania University.
The speculation about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a larger point.
“It is often framed as a corporate drama with influential figures as the central actors, but there is very little discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard added.
A Further Element: Donald Trump
This situation is complicated by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his main “fake news” foe.
Think back to the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his administration's retaliatory withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in official meetings.
Trump now asserts that the network requires new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will protect him from negative coverage and examination. That is a factor in why he seems to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
There is a basis to favor that company more. For one thing, it is controlled by David Ellison, son of the Trump-friendly Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
The company, owner of CBS News, also recently installed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that storied news network.
An Outcome of Continued Uncertainty
It is important to note, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a separate entity. That would be a relief to many at the network, but it’s hardly a guarantee of stability. That arrangement could pave the way for CNN for another sale. The cycle continues.
In the view of Timothy Wu, a lot of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance recently argued that competition laws should prohibit both deals.
“Each proposed deal would be bad for the country, and both should be contested by regulators,” Wu stated.
The Core Problem and a Way Ahead
Regardless of the resolution with this particular battle, the bigger problem endures.
“What we have now is a highly structure that undermines democracy, but we must resist a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard said. Policy decisions – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this hyper-commercialized monster, and different policy decisions can tackle it.
Is this likely in an era where the head of the FCC refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Reform is highly improbable now, but that doesn’t mean it will not happen in the future.
Initiatives that bolster independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, subsidize public media, and prohibit the consolidation of media power in a handful of hands are within reach – they are necessary for a healthy democracy.
When it comes to media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations including CNN shouldn’t be pieces in the most recent merger game.
