On Thursday evening, amid swirling speculation concerning an incident at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins used social media, noting the confusion and pointing viewers to her network’s 9pm newscast.
While CNN is certainly not a impeccable news source, her words resonated for a lot of people. It is one of the outlets where one can locate fact-based and largely dependable reporting – notably during fast-moving events such as the one developing close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
An Uncertain Position Amid a High-Stakes Struggle
Yet CNN, now 45 years old, finds itself in a uncertain situation as two huge media corporations battle over ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
No matter the result, the fate of CNN has become part of a high-risk game of corporate ownership, rather than as a question of what helps the information-seeking public.
“This is yet another example of the profound systemic issues with origins in many years of regulatory actions,” stated Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy at the Penn.
The debate about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – could it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a larger point.
“It gets presented as a financial tale with influential figures as the main characters, but there is very little discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard explained.
A Further Layer: The Former President
This situation is complicated by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his primary “fake news” foe.
Think back to the chants of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his administration's retaliatory withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in White House briefings.
Trump now says that the network requires new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will insulate him from criticism and scrutiny. That is part of why he appears to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.
He has grounds to prefer that bidder more. For one thing, it is led by David Ellison, son of the pro-Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
Paramount, parent of CBS News, also recently placed the conservative Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that historic news network.
A Possibility of More Uncertainty
It is important to note, 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 hardly a guarantee of stability. That arrangement could pave the way for CNN for another sale. It never ends.
According to Timothy Wu, much of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that anti-trust laws should block both deals.
“Either merger would be bad for the country, and both should be challenged by regulators,” Wu argued.
The Bigger Problem and a Potential Solution
No matter the outcome in this situation, the underlying crisis endures.
“The present media landscape is a profoundly structure that undermines democracy, but we shouldn’t give in to a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard emphasized. Regulatory choices – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this overly commercial monster, and new policy decisions can address it.
Will that happen in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Overhaul is a distant prospect now, but that is not to say it will never happen.
Measures that support independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, fund public media, and outlaw the concentration of media power in a handful of hands are achievable – they are necessary for a robust democracy.
When it comes to media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations like CNN cannot be pieces in the most recent acquisition battle.
