This past Thursday night, while unconfirmed reports spread concerning an incident at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, pointing out the conflicting information and pointing viewers to her network’s 9pm newscast.
Although the network is hardly a flawless news source, her statement resonated to many. It remains one of the organizations where one can locate fact-based and generally dependable reporting – particularly during breaking news situations such as the one taking place near a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Vulnerable Situation Amid a Corporate Battle
Yet the news network, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a vulnerable state as two huge media empires compete for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
No matter the result, the fate of CNN has turned into a major game of corporate ownership, not as a question of what serves the news-consuming public.
“Here is one more case of the deep structural problems with origins in many years of regulatory actions,” noted Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the Pennsylvania University.
The speculation about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a broader point.
“It gets presented as a business story with powerful individuals as the protagonists, but there is hardly any discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard added.
A Further Element: The Former President
This situation is complicated by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his main “fake news” foe.
Recall the cries of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his administration's retaliatory suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his clashes with Collins in White House briefings.
Trump now claims that the network requires new ownership. Many see this as a desire for ownership that will protect him from criticism and scrutiny. That is one reason why he appears to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
He has grounds to like that bidder more. For one thing, it is run by David Ellison, son of the pro-Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
The company, parent of CBS News, also recently installed the conservative Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that venerable news network.
A Possibility of More Turmoil
It is important to note, 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 not exactly a secure position. That arrangement could position CNN for yet another acquisition. The cycle continues.
If you ask Timothy Wu, a lot of this is against the law, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that competition laws should block both deals.
“Each proposed deal would be harmful to the country, and both should be challenged by anti-trust authorities,” Wu argued.
The Fundamental Issue and a Potential Solution
Whatever happens with this particular battle, the larger issue endures.
“What we have now is a very structure that undermines democracy, but we must resist a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard said. Regulatory choices – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this overly commercial monster, and new policy decisions can fix it.
Can reform occur in an era where the head of the FCC will not confirm that the agency is independent? Reform is highly improbable now, but that should not imply it will not happen in the future.
Policies that strengthen independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, finance public media, and prohibit the accumulation of media power in very few hands are achievable – they are vital for a healthy democracy.
In the world of media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations like CNN must not be pawns in the latest corporate chess match.
