This past Thursday night, while unconfirmed reports spread regarding an incident at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins took to social media, highlighting the uncertainty and pointing viewers to her network’s 9pm newscast.
Even though CNN is certainly not a perfect news source, her statement rang true for a lot of people. It remains one of the outlets where there exists fact-based and mostly reliable reporting – notably during fast-moving events like the one unfolding close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious Situation Amid a Corporate Battle
But the news network, now middle-aged, finds itself in a uncertain position as two giant media empires compete for ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the destiny of CNN has become part of a high-stakes game of business acquisition, instead of as a question of what helps the information-seeking public.
“This is yet another example of the profound systemic issues with roots in many years of regulatory actions,” noted Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy at the Pennsylvania University.
The speculation about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a more important point.
“It is often framed as a corporate drama with key players as the central actors, but there is scant discussion of the public interest,” Pickard said.
A Further Factor: The Former President
The CNN scenario is complicated by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his primary “fake news” antagonist.
Recall the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his team's disciplinary withdrawal 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 shield him from criticism and scrutiny. That is part of why he appears to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
Trump has reason to prefer that suitor 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 placed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that storied news network.
A Possibility of Further Instability
Notably, 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 hardly a secure position. That structure could pave the way for CNN for yet another acquisition. The cycle continues.
According to Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that competition laws should block both deals.
“Both acquisition attempts would be detrimental to the country, and both should be contested by anti-trust authorities,” Wu argued.
The Core Challenge and a Potential Solution
No matter the outcome in this situation, the underlying crisis endures.
“The present media landscape is a profoundly system hostile to democracy, but we must resist the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard emphasized. Policy decisions – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this profit-obsessed monster, and different policy decisions can tackle it.
Is this likely in an era where the head of the FCC won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Reform is highly improbable now, but that is not to say it will not happen in the future.
Policies that strengthen independent news organizations, aid local journalism, subsidize public media, and prevent the consolidation of media power in a handful of hands are within reach – they are vital for a healthy democracy.
When it comes to media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations including CNN cannot be tools in the latest corporate chess match.
