On Thursday evening, as rumors swirled regarding a shooting at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins used social media, highlighting the uncertainty and pointing viewers to her network’s 9pm newscast.
Although it is by no means a perfect news source, her words rang true for a lot of people. It is one of the organizations where one can locate fact-based and mostly dependable reporting – notably during fast-moving events such as the one developing in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Vulnerable Situation Amid a Business Struggle
However CNN, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a vulnerable position as two massive media empires battle over ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the destiny of CNN has turned into a high-stakes game of corporate ownership, not as a question of what benefits the information-seeking public.
“This is yet another example of the profound systemic issues with roots in many years of regulatory actions,” stated Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy at the Penn.
The debate about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a more important point.
“The narrative is crafted as a corporate drama with influential figures as the main characters, but there is very little discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard added.
A Further Factor: The Former President
This situation is further muddied by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his main “fake news” antagonist.
Recall the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his administration’s punitive suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in official meetings.
Trump now asserts that CNN needs new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will shield him from negative coverage and examination. That is a factor in why he seems to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
He has grounds to prefer that company more. For one thing, it is led by David Ellison, son of the Trump-friendly Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
Paramount, owner of CBS News, also recently placed the conservative Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that storied news network.
A Possibility of More Turmoil
Notably, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a separate entity. That would be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a secure position. That setup could position CNN for another sale. There is no finish line.
If you ask Timothy Wu, a lot 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 prohibit both deals.
“Either merger would be bad for the country, and both should be contested by regulators,” Wu stated.
The Bigger Problem and a Potential Solution
No matter the outcome in this situation, the bigger problem persists.
“What we have now is a highly structure that undermines democracy, but we shouldn’t give in to the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard said. Government actions – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this hyper-commercialized monster, and new policy decisions can fix it.
Is this likely in an era where the head of the FCC refuses to acknowledge 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 necessary for a functioning democracy.
When it comes to media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations including CNN shouldn’t be pieces in the most recent merger game.
