On Thursday evening, amid swirling speculation about the Brown University gunman, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins used social media, pointing out the conflicting information and pointing viewers to her network’s 9pm newscast.
Although the network is hardly a impeccable news source, her message rang true to many. It stands as one of the organizations where you can find fact-based and largely trustworthy reporting – notably during breaking news situations like the one taking place in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Vulnerable Situation During a High-Stakes Battle
But CNN, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a uncertain position as two giant media empires vie for ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
No matter the result, the future of CNN has been drawn into a major game of mergers and acquisitions, instead of as a question of what benefits the information-seeking public.
“This represents another instance of the profound systemic issues with origins in many years of governmental choices,” noted Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the Pennsylvania University.
The conjecture about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a more important point.
“It gets presented as a business story with influential figures as the main characters, but there is hardly any discussion of the public interest,” Pickard said.
The Additional Element: Political Influence
The network's predicament is complicated by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his primary “fake news” antagonist.
Think back to the chants of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his administration's retaliatory suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in White House briefings.
Trump now says that CNN needs new ownership. Many see this as a desire for ownership that will shield him from negative coverage and examination. That is a factor in why he seems to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
Trump has reason to like that company more. For one thing, it is run 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 conservative Bari Weiss, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that historic news network.
An Outcome of Continued Uncertainty
Significantly, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a separate entity. This might be a relief to many at the network, but it’s far from a secure position. That structure could set up CNN for another sale. It never ends.
In the view of Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is illegal, 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 regulators,” Wu recently wrote.
The Core Challenge and a Path Forward
Regardless of the resolution with this particular battle, the underlying crisis persists.
“The present media landscape is a highly structure that undermines democracy, but we must resist a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard noted. Policy decisions – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this hyper-commercialized monster, and different policy decisions can tackle it.
Will that happen in an era where the head of the FCC refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Change is a distant prospect now, but that should not imply it will not happen in the future.
Measures that support independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, subsidize public media, and outlaw the consolidation of media power in very few hands are not only possible – they are essential for a healthy democracy.
When it comes to media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations such as CNN cannot be tools in the newest acquisition battle.
