This past Thursday night, while unconfirmed reports spread about the Brown University gunman, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins used social media, pointing out the conflicting information and directing people to her network’s 9pm newscast.
Even though CNN is certainly not a perfect news source, her words rang true for numerous observers. It remains one of the organizations where one can locate reality-based and generally trustworthy reporting – notably during fast-moving events like the one unfolding close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Vulnerable Situation Amid a Business Battle
Yet CNN, now middle-aged, finds itself in a uncertain state as two giant media empires battle over ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the fate of CNN has turned into a high-stakes game of business acquisition, not as a question of what serves the information-seeking public.
“This represents another instance of the fundamental flaws with roots in many years of regulatory actions,” said Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy at the Penn.
The conjecture about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – could it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a broader point.
“It gets presented as a business story with key players as the main characters, but there is hardly any discussion of the public interest,” Pickard added.
A Further Element: Political Influence
The CNN scenario is made more complex by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his main “fake news” foe.
Remember the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his administration's retaliatory revocation 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. Many see this as a desire for ownership that will shield him from negative coverage and examination. That is one reason why he appears to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.
There is a basis to prefer 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.
The company, parent of CBS News, also recently placed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that historic news network.
An Outcome of Further Uncertainty
Notably, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a standalone company. That would be a relief to many at the network, but it’s far from a guarantee of stability. That arrangement could position CNN for another sale. The cycle continues.
If you ask Timothy Wu, a lot of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that competition laws should prohibit both deals.
“Either merger would be harmful to the country, and both should be challenged by the government,” Wu stated.
The Bigger Problem and a Path Forward
No matter the outcome in this situation, the bigger problem persists.
“Our current system is a very 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 build this overly commercial monster, and different policy decisions can address it.
Can reform occur in an era where the head of the FCC will not confirm that the agency is independent? Change is a distant prospect now, but that doesn’t mean it will not happen in the future.
Policies that strengthen independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, subsidize public media, and prohibit the concentration of media power in very few hands are within reach – they are necessary for a healthy democracy.
When it comes to media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations like CNN cannot be tools in the latest corporate chess match.
