This past Thursday night, as rumors swirled regarding an incident at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins used social media, highlighting the uncertainty and pointing viewers to her channel's 9pm newscast.
Even though the network is hardly a impeccable news source, her words rang true for numerous observers. It remains one of the broadcasters where you can find fact-based and generally reliable reporting – especially during fast-moving events such as the one unfolding near a New Hampshire storage facility.
An Uncertain Position Amid a Corporate Tug-of-War
Yet CNN, now middle-aged, finds itself in a precarious situation as two giant media conglomerates vie for ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
No matter the result, the fate of CNN has been drawn into a major game of corporate ownership, rather than as a question of what benefits the news-consuming public.
“This represents another instance of the fundamental flaws with roots in decades of regulatory actions,” noted Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the Pennsylvania University.
The speculation about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a broader point.
“The narrative is crafted as a corporate drama with influential figures as the central actors, but there is scant discussion of the common good,” Pickard added.
The Complicating Factor: The Former President
The network's predicament is made more complex by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his main “fake news” foe.
Remember the chants of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his administration's retaliatory withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in press briefings.
Trump now says that CNN needs new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will shield him from negative coverage and examination. That is one reason why he seems to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.
Trump has reason to prefer that company 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 installed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that storied news network.
A Possibility of More Turmoil
Notably, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a separate entity. Such a move could be a relief to many at the network, but it’s far from a secure position. That setup could position CNN for another sale. There is no finish line.
According to Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance stated that competition laws should prohibit both deals.
“Each proposed deal would be bad for the country, and both should be opposed by the government,” Wu stated.
The Bigger Challenge and a Path Forward
No matter the outcome with this particular battle, the underlying crisis persists.
“Our current system is a highly anti-democratic system, but we ought not succumb to a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard emphasized. Policy decisions – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this hyper-commercialized monster, and new policy decisions can address it.
Will that happen in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair will not confirm that the agency is independent? Change is very unlikely now, but that is not to say it will never happen.
Measures that support independent news organizations, aid local journalism, finance public media, and prevent the consolidation of media power in very few hands are achievable – they are essential for a robust democracy.
In the world of media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations like CNN cannot be pawns in the newest acquisition battle.
