On Thursday evening, amid swirling speculation concerning the Brown University gunman, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins took to social media, highlighting the uncertainty and directing people to her channel's 9pm newscast.
Even though CNN is certainly not a flawless news source, her statement rang true for a lot of people. It is one of the broadcasters where there exists reality-based and largely dependable reporting – particularly during fast-moving events such as the one developing close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious Position During a Corporate Tug-of-War
Yet CNN, now middle-aged, finds itself in a precarious situation as two huge media corporations compete for ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the destiny of CNN has been drawn into a major game of corporate ownership, not as a question of what helps the news-consuming public.
“This is yet another example of the fundamental flaws with roots in decades of governmental choices,” said Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the Penn.
The conjecture about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a broader point.
“It gets presented as a business story with influential figures as the protagonists, but there is hardly any discussion of the common good,” Pickard explained.
The Complicating Element: Donald Trump
This situation is made more complex by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his main “fake news” foe.
Think back to the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his administration's retaliatory suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in White House briefings.
Trump now asserts that CNN needs new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will protect him from negative coverage and examination. That is one reason why he seems to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.
There is a basis to prefer that bidder more. For one thing, it is controlled by David Ellison, son of the ally of Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
The company, owner of CBS News, also recently appointed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that venerable news network.
An Outcome of Further Instability
Significantly, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a independent unit. That would be a relief to many at the network, but it’s hardly a secure position. That setup could set up CNN for another sale. There is no finish line.
If you ask Timothy Wu, a lot of this is illegal, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance recently argued that competition laws should disallow both deals.
“Each proposed deal would be harmful to the country, and both should be opposed by anti-trust authorities,” Wu stated.
The Core Issue and a Path Forward
Regardless of the resolution regarding CNN, the bigger problem endures.
“The present media landscape is a highly system hostile to democracy, but we shouldn’t give in to learned helplessness,” Pickard said. Regulatory choices – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this overly commercial monster, and different policy decisions can tackle it.
Will that happen in an era where the top communications regulator refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Change is a distant prospect now, but that doesn’t mean it will be impossible forever.
Measures that support independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, finance public media, and outlaw the consolidation of media power in too few hands are within reach – they are essential for a robust democracy.
Regarding media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations like CNN cannot be pawns in the most recent acquisition battle.
