On Thursday evening, amid swirling speculation concerning the Brown University gunman, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, pointing out the conflicting information and pointing viewers to her channel's 9pm newscast.
Although CNN is certainly not a impeccable news source, her words resonated for numerous observers. It remains one of the organizations where you can find grounded and mostly reliable reporting – especially during crises like the one taking place close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
An Uncertain State Amid a Business Struggle
However CNN, now 45 years old, finds itself in a uncertain position as two huge media corporations vie for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the future of CNN has become part of a high-stakes game of corporate ownership, instead of as a question of what benefits the information-seeking public.
“This represents another instance of the deep structural problems with origins in many years of governmental choices,” said Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy at the University of Pennsylvania.
The debate about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a broader point.
“It is often framed as a financial tale with key players as the central actors, but there is hardly any discussion of the common good,” Pickard said.
The Complicating Factor: The Former President
The CNN scenario is made more complex by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his primary “fake news” foe.
Remember the chants of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his team's disciplinary suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in official meetings.
Trump now claims that CNN needs new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will shield him from criticism and scrutiny. That is part of why he seems to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
Trump has reason to favor that bidder more. For one thing, it is controlled by David Ellison, son of the Trump-friendly Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
Paramount, owner of CBS News, also recently installed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that historic news network.
An Outcome of More Uncertainty
It is important to note, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a independent unit. Such a move could be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s hardly a safe harbor. That structure could set up CNN for a future sale. It never ends.
According to Timothy Wu, much of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance stated that anti-trust laws should block both deals.
“Either merger would be detrimental to the country, and both should be challenged by the government,” Wu stated.
The Fundamental Problem and a Potential Solution
Whatever happens with this particular battle, the bigger problem endures.
“What we have now is a very structure that undermines democracy, but we must resist learned helplessness,” Pickard noted. Policy decisions – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this overly commercial monster, and new policy decisions can tackle it.
Is this likely in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Change is highly improbable now, but that is not to say it will be impossible forever.
Measures that support independent news organizations, aid local journalism, fund public media, and prevent the consolidation of media power in very few hands are within reach – they are vital for a robust democracy.
When it comes to media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations including CNN must not be pawns in the latest acquisition battle.
