This past Thursday night, amid swirling speculation concerning a shooting at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, pointing out the conflicting information and guiding the public to her network’s 9pm newscast.
While it is by no means a perfect news source, her statement resonated to many. It remains one of the broadcasters where you can find fact-based and mostly trustworthy reporting – especially during crises such as the one unfolding close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious Situation During a Business Tug-of-War
But CNN, now middle-aged, finds itself in a uncertain situation as two giant media corporations vie for ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
Regardless of who wins, the destiny of CNN has been drawn into a major game of business acquisition, 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 many years of regulatory actions,” said Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the Penn.
The speculation about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – could it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a more important point.
“It is often framed as a business story with key players as the central actors, but there is hardly any discussion of the common good,” Pickard explained.
The Complicating Layer: Political Influence
This situation is complicated by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his primary “fake news” foe.
Remember the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his administration’s punitive suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in press briefings.
Trump now says that CNN needs new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will insulate him from criticism and scrutiny. That is one reason why he seems to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.
Trump has reason to favor that suitor 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 appointed the conservative Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that storied news network.
A Possibility of Continued Turmoil
It is important to note, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a separate entity. That would be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s hardly a guarantee of stability. That structure could position CNN for a future sale. There is no finish line.
In the view of Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is illegal, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that anti-trust laws should prohibit both deals.
“Either merger would be detrimental to the country, and both should be contested by anti-trust authorities,” Wu stated.
The Fundamental Problem and a Path Forward
Regardless of the resolution in this situation, the larger issue persists.
“What we have now is a profoundly structure that undermines democracy, but we ought not succumb to learned helplessness,” Pickard noted. Government actions – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this hyper-commercialized monster, and new policy decisions can tackle it.
Can reform occur in an era where the top communications regulator refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Overhaul is very unlikely now, but that should not imply it will never happen.
Initiatives that support independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, fund public media, and outlaw the accumulation of media power in a handful of hands are within reach – they are necessary for a functioning democracy.
Regarding media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations including CNN must not be pawns in the newest merger game.
