This past Thursday night, amid swirling speculation concerning the Brown University gunman, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins used social media, highlighting the uncertainty and guiding the public to her channel's 9pm newscast.
Although it is by no means a impeccable news source, her words resonated for numerous observers. It is one of the organizations where there exists fact-based and mostly reliable reporting – especially during fast-moving events such as the one developing close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
An Uncertain Situation During a High-Stakes Struggle
Yet CNN, now 45 years old, finds itself in a vulnerable state as two massive media conglomerates compete for ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the destiny of CNN has become part of a high-stakes game of corporate ownership, rather than as a question of what benefits the information-seeking public.
“Here is one more case of the deep structural problems with origins in many years of regulatory actions,” stated Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Pennsylvania University.
The debate about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a more important point.
“It gets presented as a financial tale with key players as the central actors, but there is scant discussion of the public interest,” Pickard explained.
The Additional Layer: The Former President
The network's predicament is made more complex by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his main “fake news” adversary.
Remember the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his administration’s punitive suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in White House briefings.
Trump now asserts that CNN needs new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will shield him from criticism and scrutiny. That is one reason why he appears to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.
There is a basis to like that bidder more. For one thing, it is controlled by David Ellison, son of the pro-Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
Paramount, owner of CBS News, also recently placed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that historic news network.
A Possibility of Further Uncertainty
It is important to note, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a standalone company. Such a move could be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a guarantee of stability. That structure could set up CNN for another sale. The cycle continues.
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 prohibit both deals.
“Either merger would be harmful to the country, and both should be opposed by anti-trust authorities,” Wu argued.
The Fundamental Challenge and a Way Ahead
Regardless of the resolution with this particular battle, the underlying crisis remains.
“The present media landscape is a profoundly anti-democratic system, but we must resist a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard emphasized. Policy decisions – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this overly commercial monster, and new policy decisions can address it.
Can reform occur in an era where the head of the FCC will not confirm that the agency is independent? Overhaul is a distant prospect now, but that should not imply it will not happen in the future.
Measures that support independent news organizations, aid local journalism, fund public media, and outlaw the consolidation of media power in a handful of hands are within reach – they are essential for a functioning democracy.
When it comes to media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations including CNN cannot be pawns in the most recent merger game.
