This past Thursday night, amid swirling speculation regarding the Brown University gunman, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins took to social media, pointing out the conflicting information and directing people to her network’s 9pm newscast.
While CNN is certainly not a impeccable news source, her message seemed accurate for numerous observers. It is one of the organizations where there exists fact-based and largely reliable reporting – particularly during breaking news situations like the one unfolding near a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious Position During a Business Struggle
Yet the news network, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a vulnerable state as two giant media conglomerates battle over ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
No matter the result, the future of CNN has turned into a high-stakes game of mergers and acquisitions, rather than as a question of what helps the news-consuming public.
“Here is one more case of the deep structural problems with origins in decades of regulatory actions,” noted Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the University of Pennsylvania.
The speculation 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 corporate drama with influential figures as the main characters, but there is very little discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard said.
The Additional Element: Political Influence
This situation is complicated by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his main “fake news” antagonist.
Recall the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his administration's retaliatory withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his clashes with Collins in press briefings.
Trump now claims that CNN needs new ownership. Many see this as a desire for ownership that will shield him from journalistic oversight. That is one reason why he appears to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.
He has grounds to like that company more. For one thing, it is led by David Ellison, son of the Trump-friendly Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
Paramount, owner of CBS News, also recently installed the conservative Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that venerable news network.
A Future of Further Turmoil
Notably, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a separate entity. This might be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s hardly a secure position. That setup could position CNN for a future sale. It never ends.
If you ask Timothy Wu, a lot of this is against the law, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance stated that competition laws should block both deals.
“Either merger would be harmful to the country, and both should be challenged by the government,” Wu stated.
The Core Challenge and a Way Ahead
No matter the outcome with this particular battle, the underlying crisis remains.
“Our current system is a highly anti-democratic system, but we ought not succumb to learned helplessness,” Pickard noted. Government actions – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this profit-obsessed monster, and new 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? Reform is highly improbable now, but that is not to say it will never happen.
Initiatives that bolster independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, finance public media, and prevent the concentration of media power in too few hands are within reach – they are essential for a functioning democracy.
Regarding media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations including CNN cannot be tools in the latest merger game.
