This past Thursday night, while unconfirmed reports spread regarding an incident at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, pointing out the conflicting information and guiding the public to her channel's 9pm newscast.
While CNN is certainly not a flawless news source, her statement resonated for a lot of people. It is one of the broadcasters where one can locate fact-based and generally reliable reporting – notably during fast-moving events such as the one taking place close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Vulnerable State During a High-Stakes Struggle
However the news network, now middle-aged, finds itself in a uncertain state as two massive media corporations vie for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the fate of CNN has turned into a high-risk game of corporate ownership, instead of as a question of what serves the news-consuming public.
“This represents another instance of the profound systemic issues with origins in many years of regulatory actions,” noted Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Penn.
The debate about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a larger point.
“It gets presented as a financial tale with key players as the central actors, but there is scant discussion of the public interest,” Pickard added.
A Further Factor: The Former President
The CNN scenario is further muddied by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his chief “fake news” antagonist.
Recall the cries of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his administration’s punitive withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his clashes with Collins in official meetings.
Trump now asserts that CNN needs new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will insulate him from negative coverage and examination. That is a factor in why he appears to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
There is a basis to favor that bidder more. For one thing, it is led by David Ellison, son of the Trump-friendly Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
The company, parent of CBS News, also recently placed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that historic news network.
An Outcome of Further Uncertainty
It is important to note, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a separate entity. Such a move could be a relief to many at the network, but it’s hardly a secure position. That arrangement could position CNN for a future sale. The cycle continues.
According to Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is against the law, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that competition laws should prohibit both deals.
“Each proposed deal would be bad for the country, and both should be opposed by anti-trust authorities,” Wu argued.
The Fundamental Challenge and a Path Forward
Regardless of the resolution regarding CNN, the underlying crisis endures.
“The present media landscape is a highly structure that undermines democracy, but we ought not succumb to learned helplessness,” Pickard emphasized. Policy decisions – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this hyper-commercialized monster, and different policy decisions can address it.
Can reform occur in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Reform is a distant prospect now, but that should not imply it will never happen.
Measures that support independent news organizations, aid local journalism, subsidize public media, and outlaw the consolidation of media power in very few hands are achievable – they are vital for a robust democracy.
Regarding media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations including CNN cannot be pieces in the newest acquisition battle.
