This past Thursday night, while unconfirmed reports spread regarding a shooting at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins took to social media, pointing out the conflicting information and directing people to her network’s 9pm newscast.
Even though it is by no means a flawless news source, her statement rang true to many. It stands as one of the organizations where you can find reality-based and largely reliable reporting – notably during fast-moving events such as the one unfolding near a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Vulnerable Position During a Business Battle
However the news network, now 45 years old, finds itself in a uncertain state as two giant media corporations vie for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the fate of CNN has turned into a major game of corporate ownership, rather than as a question of what helps the news-consuming public.
“This is yet another example of the profound systemic issues with origins in decades of policy decisions,” stated Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the Penn.
The conjecture about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a broader point.
“It gets presented as a financial tale with influential figures as the central actors, but there is very little discussion of the common good,” Pickard added.
The Complicating Element: Political Influence
The network's predicament is complicated by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his chief “fake news” adversary.
Remember the chants of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his administration’s punitive revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in White House briefings.
Trump now says that CNN needs new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will protect him from journalistic oversight. That is one reason why he seems to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
There is a basis to favor that bidder more. For one thing, it is run by David Ellison, son of the Trump-friendly Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
Paramount, parent of CBS News, also recently installed the conservative Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that storied news network.
An Outcome of Continued Uncertainty
Notably, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a separate entity. That would be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s far from a guarantee of stability. That setup could set up CNN for a future sale. It never ends.
If you ask Timothy Wu, much of this is illegal, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance recently argued that competition laws should disallow both deals.
“Both acquisition attempts would be harmful to the country, and both should be contested by regulators,” Wu recently wrote.
The Core Problem and a Potential Solution
Whatever happens in this situation, the bigger problem remains.
“Our current system is a highly anti-democratic system, but we shouldn’t give in to a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard noted. Regulatory choices – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this profit-obsessed monster, and different policy decisions can tackle it.
Is this likely in an era where the top communications regulator refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Reform is highly improbable now, but that doesn’t mean it will be impossible forever.
Measures that strengthen independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, finance public media, and prohibit the accumulation of media power in a handful of hands are within reach – they are vital for a robust democracy.
When it comes to media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations such as CNN shouldn’t be pieces in the newest merger game.
