Late Thursday, amid swirling speculation concerning an incident at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins took to social media, pointing out the conflicting information and guiding the public to her channel's 9pm newscast.
Although the network is hardly a perfect news source, her statement rang true to many. It is one of the organizations where one can locate reality-based and largely reliable reporting – particularly during fast-moving events like the one unfolding in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious State During a High-Stakes Tug-of-War
Yet the news network, now middle-aged, finds itself in a precarious situation as two massive media conglomerates battle over ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Regardless of who wins, the destiny of CNN has turned into a major game of corporate ownership, not as a question of what benefits the news-consuming public.
“Here is one more case of the fundamental flaws with roots in many years of governmental choices,” noted Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Pennsylvania University.
The conjecture about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – could it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a more important point.
“It gets presented as a financial tale with key players as the protagonists, but there is scant discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard explained.
The Complicating Layer: The Former President
This situation is further muddied by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his primary “fake news” foe.
Recall the chants of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his team's disciplinary revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his clashes with Collins in official meetings.
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 one reason why he appears to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.
There is a basis to like that suitor more. For one thing, it is controlled by David Ellison, son of the pro-Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
Paramount, owner of CBS News, also recently appointed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that storied news network.
A Future of More Instability
Notably, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a standalone company. This might be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s far from a safe harbor. That arrangement could set up CNN for another sale. There is no finish line.
According to Timothy Wu, much of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance stated that competition laws should block both deals.
“Both acquisition attempts would be harmful to the country, and both should be opposed by the government,” Wu argued.
The Bigger Challenge and a Potential Solution
Whatever happens in this situation, the larger issue persists.
“Our current system is a profoundly system hostile to democracy, but we ought not succumb to learned helplessness,” Pickard noted. Policy decisions – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this overly commercial monster, and new policy decisions can address it.
Is this likely in an era where the head of the FCC will not confirm that the agency is independent? Reform is very unlikely now, but that doesn’t mean it will not happen in the future.
Measures that strengthen independent news organizations, aid local journalism, fund public media, and prohibit the concentration of media power in a handful of hands are not only possible – they are vital for a healthy democracy.
In the world of media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations including CNN shouldn’t be tools in the latest acquisition battle.
