Late Thursday, amid swirling speculation regarding 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 perfect news source, her words resonated for numerous observers. It is one of the outlets where one can locate grounded and largely reliable reporting – particularly during breaking news situations such as the one unfolding near a New Hampshire storage facility.
An Uncertain State Amid a Business Battle
However the news network, now 45 years old, finds itself in a precarious state as two giant media empires vie for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
No matter the result, the destiny of CNN has turned into a high-stakes game of corporate ownership, not as a question of what helps the information-seeking public.
“Here is one more case of the profound systemic issues with origins in decades of policy decisions,” stated Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy at the Pennsylvania University.
The debate about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a broader point.
“It gets presented as a financial tale with influential figures as the protagonists, but there is very little discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard said.
The Additional Factor: Political Influence
The network's predicament is complicated by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his primary “fake news” adversary.
Remember the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his team's disciplinary suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in official meetings.
Trump now claims that the network requires new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will shield him from criticism and scrutiny. That is a factor in why he appears to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.
Trump has reason to prefer that suitor more. For one thing, it is run 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 placed the conservative Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that venerable news network.
A Future of Continued Turmoil
It is important to note, if Netflix prevails, 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 far from a secure position. That structure could set up CNN for a future sale. It never ends.
If you ask Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is illegal, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that anti-trust laws should disallow both deals.
“Both acquisition attempts would be detrimental to the country, and both should be challenged by regulators,” Wu recently wrote.
The Fundamental Issue and a Potential Solution
No matter the outcome in this situation, the underlying crisis remains.
“What we have now is a highly structure that undermines democracy, but we shouldn’t give in to the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard said. Regulatory choices – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this hyper-commercialized monster, and revised policy decisions can fix it.
Can reform occur in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair will not confirm that the agency is independent? Reform is very unlikely now, but that is not to say it will not happen in the future.
Measures that support independent news organizations, aid local journalism, finance public media, and prevent the accumulation of media power in very few hands are within reach – they are vital for a healthy democracy.
Regarding media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations like CNN shouldn’t be pieces in the latest merger game.
