This past Thursday night, as rumors swirled concerning a shooting at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, noting the confusion and pointing viewers to her channel's 9pm newscast.
While the network is hardly a flawless news source, her statement seemed accurate to many. It is one of the broadcasters where one can locate fact-based and mostly trustworthy reporting – particularly during fast-moving events like the one developing close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
An Uncertain State Amid a High-Stakes Battle
However the news network, now 45 years old, finds itself in a precarious state as two giant media corporations battle over ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the fate of CNN has been drawn into a major game of mergers and acquisitions, rather than as a question of what helps the information-seeking public.
“This is yet another example of the profound systemic issues with origins in many years of governmental choices,” noted Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the Pennsylvania University.
The debate about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a larger point.
“It gets presented as a financial tale with key players as the central actors, but there is scant discussion of the common good,” Pickard explained.
The Additional Factor: Political Influence
The CNN scenario is further muddied by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his primary “fake news” adversary.
Recall the chants of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his administration's retaliatory revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in press briefings.
Trump now claims that CNN needs new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will insulate him from negative coverage and examination. That is part of 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 led by David Ellison, son of the Trump-friendly Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
The company, owner of CBS News, also recently installed the conservative Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that historic news network.
A Possibility of Further Instability
Significantly, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a standalone company. Such a move could be a relief to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a safe harbor. That structure could position CNN for yet another acquisition. The cycle continues.
According to Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is illegal, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance recently argued that anti-trust laws should disallow both deals.
“Both acquisition attempts would be detrimental to the country, and both should be opposed by anti-trust authorities,” Wu argued.
The Bigger Problem and a Way Ahead
Regardless of the resolution in this situation, the larger issue remains.
“What we have now is a profoundly system hostile to democracy, but we must resist a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard said. Government actions – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this profit-obsessed monster, and new policy decisions can fix it.
Can reform occur in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Reform is highly improbable now, but that doesn’t mean it will be impossible forever.
Initiatives that strengthen independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, subsidize public media, and prohibit the consolidation of media power in very few hands are not only possible – they are vital for a healthy democracy.
Regarding media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations including CNN shouldn’t be tools in the latest merger game.
