On Thursday evening, 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 network’s 9pm newscast.
Although CNN is certainly not a perfect news source, her words rang true to many. It is one of the outlets where you can find reality-based and generally dependable reporting – particularly during breaking news situations like the one taking place in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious Position Amid a Corporate Struggle
Yet the news network, now 45 years old, finds itself in a vulnerable situation as two massive media empires compete for ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
No matter the result, the future of CNN has become part of a major game of business acquisition, instead of 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 policy decisions,” stated Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the University of Pennsylvania.
The debate about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a broader point.
“It gets presented as a business story with influential figures as the main characters, but there is hardly any discussion of the public interest,” Pickard explained.
A Further Element: The Former President
The network's predicament is complicated by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his primary “fake news” antagonist.
Recall the cries of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his administration’s punitive suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his clashes with Collins in White House briefings.
Trump now claims that CNN needs new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will protect him from negative coverage and examination. That is one reason why he appears to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.
He has grounds to prefer that bidder more. For one thing, it is run 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 appointed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that storied news network.
A Possibility of Continued Instability
It is important to note, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a standalone company. That would be a relief to many at the network, but it’s far from a safe harbor. That structure could position CNN for yet another acquisition. The cycle continues.
If you ask Timothy Wu, a lot of this is illegal, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance stated that competition laws should prohibit both deals.
“Either merger would be bad for the country, and both should be opposed by regulators,” Wu stated.
The Bigger Challenge and a Way Ahead
No matter the outcome regarding CNN, the bigger problem persists.
“Our current system is a profoundly structure that undermines democracy, but we ought not succumb to learned helplessness,” Pickard noted. Regulatory choices – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this profit-obsessed monster, and new policy decisions can tackle it.
Will that happen in an era where the head of the FCC will not confirm that the agency is independent? Reform is a distant prospect now, but that doesn’t mean it will never happen.
Measures that bolster independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, subsidize public media, and outlaw the concentration of media power in very few hands are achievable – they are necessary for a functioning democracy.
Regarding media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations including CNN must not be tools in the latest merger game.
