On Thursday evening, amid swirling speculation concerning a shooting at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins used social media, highlighting the uncertainty and pointing viewers to her channel's 9pm newscast.
While it is by no means a flawless news source, her message seemed accurate for numerous observers. It is one of the broadcasters where you can find grounded and generally trustworthy reporting – notably during crises such as the one taking place close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
An Uncertain Situation During a Corporate Tug-of-War
Yet the news network, now 45 years old, finds itself in a uncertain position as two huge media empires battle over ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
No matter the result, the future of CNN has become part of a high-risk game of business acquisition, not as a question of what serves the information-seeking public.
“This represents another instance of the deep structural problems with roots in many years of governmental choices,” said Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Pennsylvania University.
The debate about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a broader point.
“It is often framed as a corporate drama with key players as the central actors, but there is very little discussion of the common good,” Pickard explained.
The Additional Factor: Political Influence
This situation is made more complex by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his primary “fake news” foe.
Think back to the chants of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his administration’s punitive suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in press briefings.
Trump now asserts that the network requires new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will shield him from criticism and scrutiny. That is part of why he seems to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.
There is a basis to like that bidder 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, parent of CBS News, also recently appointed the conservative Bari Weiss, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that venerable news network.
A Future of Continued Turmoil
Notably, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a independent unit. This might be a relief to many at the network, but it’s far from a safe harbor. That structure could pave the way for CNN for yet another acquisition. It never ends.
If you ask Timothy Wu, a lot of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance stated that anti-trust laws should disallow both deals.
“Either merger would be detrimental to the country, and both should be contested by anti-trust authorities,” Wu recently wrote.
The Core Problem and a Path Forward
Regardless of the resolution regarding CNN, the larger issue remains.
“What we have now is a profoundly anti-democratic system, but we shouldn’t give in to the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard emphasized. Regulatory choices – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this hyper-commercialized monster, and different policy decisions can fix it.
Will that happen in an era where the head of the FCC won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Reform is a distant prospect now, but that should not imply it will not happen in the future.
Measures that bolster independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, subsidize public media, and prohibit the concentration of media power in a handful of hands are not only possible – they are vital for a robust democracy.
In the world of media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations such as CNN must not be pawns in the most recent merger game.
