This past Thursday night, as rumors swirled concerning the Brown University gunman, the network's Kaitlan Collins took to social media, highlighting the uncertainty and pointing viewers to her channel's 9pm newscast.
Even though it is by no means a impeccable news source, her message seemed accurate for a lot of people. It is one of the organizations where you can find fact-based and largely dependable reporting – especially during fast-moving events like the one taking place close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
An Uncertain Situation Amid a Business Battle
But the news network, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a vulnerable situation as two massive media conglomerates battle over ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Regardless of who wins, the future of CNN has been drawn into a high-stakes game of business acquisition, rather than as a question of what helps the news-consuming public.
“This represents another instance of the deep structural problems with roots in decades of governmental choices,” said Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy at the Penn.
The conjecture about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a broader point.
“The narrative is crafted as a financial tale with influential figures as the protagonists, but there is very little discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard explained.
The Complicating Layer: Donald Trump
The CNN scenario is complicated by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his main “fake news” foe.
Think back to the cries of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his administration’s punitive withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his clashes with Collins in press briefings.
Trump now asserts that CNN needs new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will protect him from journalistic oversight. That is a factor in why he appears to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.
There is a basis to like that bidder more. For one thing, it is led 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 right-leaning Bari Weiss, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that storied news network.
An Outcome of Further Turmoil
Notably, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a independent unit. Such a move could be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s far from a safe harbor. That structure could set up CNN for yet another acquisition. It never ends.
According to Timothy Wu, much of this is against the law, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance recently argued that anti-trust laws should prohibit both deals.
“Both acquisition attempts would be bad for the country, and both should be opposed by anti-trust authorities,” Wu argued.
The Bigger Problem and a Way Ahead
No matter the outcome with this particular battle, the underlying crisis remains.
“The present media landscape is a profoundly system hostile to democracy, but we must resist learned helplessness,” Pickard emphasized. Policy decisions – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this overly commercial monster, and revised policy decisions can address it.
Is this likely in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Reform is a distant prospect now, but that should not imply it will not happen in the future.
Policies that strengthen independent news organizations, aid local journalism, finance public media, and outlaw the concentration of media power in a handful of hands are within reach – they are vital for a healthy democracy.
In the world of media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations including CNN must not be tools in the most recent merger game.
