On Thursday evening, amid swirling speculation about an incident at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins took to social media, highlighting the uncertainty and guiding the public to her network’s 9pm newscast.
Even though the network is hardly a impeccable news source, her message seemed accurate for numerous observers. It remains one of the organizations where you can find fact-based and mostly dependable reporting – notably during crises such as the one taking place near a New Hampshire storage facility.
An Uncertain Position Amid a High-Stakes Tug-of-War
Yet the news network, now middle-aged, finds itself in a vulnerable position as two huge media empires battle over ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Regardless of who wins, the destiny of CNN has been drawn into a high-risk game of corporate ownership, not as a question of what helps the news-consuming public.
“This represents another instance of the profound systemic issues with origins in many years of regulatory actions,” said Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy at the Penn.
The conjecture about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a broader point.
“It gets presented as a corporate drama with influential figures as the protagonists, but there is hardly any discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard said.
The Complicating Factor: Donald Trump
The network's predicament is complicated by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his primary “fake news” antagonist.
Remember the cries of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his administration's retaliatory revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in official meetings.
Trump now asserts that the network requires new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will protect him from negative coverage and examination. That is a factor in why he appears to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.
There is a basis to favor that company more. For one thing, it is led by David Ellison, son of the pro-Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
The company, owner of CBS News, also recently appointed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that historic news network.
A Possibility of Continued Turmoil
Significantly, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a separate entity. This might be a relief to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a guarantee of stability. That structure could pave the way for CNN for yet another acquisition. The cycle continues.
In the view of Timothy Wu, much of this is illegal, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance recently argued that anti-trust laws should block both deals.
“Either merger would be detrimental to the country, and both should be contested by regulators,” Wu recently wrote.
The Fundamental Issue and a Path Forward
Whatever happens in this situation, the underlying crisis persists.
“What we have now is a highly structure that undermines democracy, but we must resist the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard said. Government actions – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this overly commercial monster, and new policy decisions can address it.
Will that happen in an era where the head of the FCC won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Reform is very unlikely now, but that doesn’t mean it will not happen in the future.
Measures that bolster independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, subsidize public media, and prohibit the consolidation of media power in very few hands are within reach – they are essential for a functioning democracy.
In the world of media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations including CNN cannot be tools in the newest merger game.
