On Thursday evening, amid swirling speculation about the Brown University gunman, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins used social media, noting the confusion and directing people to her network’s 9pm newscast.
Although the network is hardly a impeccable news source, her message seemed accurate for numerous observers. It stands as one of the organizations where there exists fact-based and mostly reliable reporting – especially during breaking news situations like the one unfolding near a New Hampshire storage facility.
An Uncertain Situation Amid a Business Tug-of-War
However the news network, now 45 years old, finds itself in a vulnerable position as two giant media empires compete 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, instead of as a question of what benefits the news-consuming public.
“Here is one more case of the profound systemic issues with origins in many years of governmental choices,” stated Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the Pennsylvania University.
The debate about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a broader point.
“The narrative is crafted as a financial tale with influential figures as the central actors, but there is very little discussion of the common good,” Pickard explained.
A Further Layer: Political Influence
The network's predicament is made more complex by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his chief “fake news” antagonist.
Recall the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his team's disciplinary withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in press briefings.
Trump now claims that the network requires new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will insulate him from negative coverage and examination. That is part of why he appears to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
Trump has reason to prefer that suitor more. For one thing, it is controlled 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 placed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that historic news network.
A Possibility of More Instability
Notably, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a separate entity. Such a move could be a relief to many at the network, but it’s far from a safe harbor. That structure could position CNN for a future sale. There is no finish line.
According to Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is against the law, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance recently argued that competition laws should disallow both deals.
“Either merger would be harmful to the country, and both should be challenged by anti-trust authorities,” Wu recently wrote.
The Fundamental Issue and a Potential Solution
Whatever happens regarding CNN, the underlying crisis persists.
“Our current system is a highly anti-democratic system, but we must resist the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard noted. Policy decisions – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this hyper-commercialized monster, and different policy decisions can tackle it.
Will that happen in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair will not confirm that the agency is independent? Overhaul is very unlikely now, but that doesn’t mean it will never happen.
Measures that bolster independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, finance public media, and outlaw the consolidation of media power in too few hands are within reach – they are vital for a functioning democracy.
Regarding media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations such as CNN must not be pieces in the most recent acquisition battle.
