On Thursday evening, while unconfirmed reports spread about a shooting at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, highlighting the uncertainty and directing people to her network’s 9pm newscast.
Although CNN is certainly not a perfect news source, her message resonated for a lot of people. It is one of the outlets where there exists reality-based and mostly dependable reporting – particularly during crises like the one taking place near a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Vulnerable State Amid a Corporate Battle
But CNN, now middle-aged, finds itself in a vulnerable state as two massive media empires compete for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the fate of CNN has become part of a high-risk game of mergers and acquisitions, rather than as a question of what benefits the news-consuming public.
“This represents another instance of the profound systemic issues with roots in decades of governmental choices,” stated Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the University of Pennsylvania.
The debate about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a more important point.
“It is often framed as a business story with powerful individuals as the central actors, but there is scant discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard explained.
A Further Element: The Former President
The CNN scenario is made more complex by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his main “fake news” antagonist.
Remember the chants of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his team's disciplinary suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in White House briefings.
Trump now says that the network requires new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will insulate him from criticism and scrutiny. That is a factor in why he seems to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
He has grounds to favor that bidder more. For one thing, it is controlled by David Ellison, son of the Trump-friendly Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
The company, parent of CBS News, also recently appointed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that storied news network.
An Outcome of Further Uncertainty
Significantly, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a independent unit. This might be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s far from a secure position. That arrangement 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 recently argued that anti-trust laws should block both deals.
“Either merger would be bad for the country, and both should be opposed by regulators,” Wu stated.
The Bigger Issue and a Way Ahead
Regardless of the resolution in this situation, the underlying crisis endures.
“What we have now is a highly system hostile to democracy, but we shouldn’t give in to learned helplessness,” Pickard noted. Regulatory choices – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this profit-obsessed monster, and different policy decisions can address it.
Is this likely in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Change is a distant prospect now, but that is not to say it will be impossible forever.
Initiatives that strengthen independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, fund public media, and outlaw the concentration of media power in very few hands are achievable – they are vital for a healthy democracy.
Regarding media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations such as CNN cannot be pawns in the latest acquisition battle.
