Late Thursday, as rumors swirled concerning an incident at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins took to social media, noting the confusion and guiding the public to her network’s 9pm newscast.
Although CNN is certainly not a flawless news source, her words seemed accurate to many. It stands as one of the broadcasters where one can locate grounded and largely trustworthy reporting – particularly during breaking news situations like the one developing close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Vulnerable Situation Amid a High-Stakes Tug-of-War
Yet CNN, now middle-aged, finds itself in a vulnerable situation as two huge media empires vie for ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
No matter the result, the future of CNN has turned into a high-risk game of corporate ownership, instead of as a question of what helps the information-seeking public.
“Here is one more case of the fundamental flaws with roots in decades of policy decisions,” noted Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Penn.
The conjecture about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a more important point.
“It is often framed as a business story with powerful individuals as the protagonists, but there is very little discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard added.
A Further Layer: Donald Trump
The CNN scenario is further muddied by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his primary “fake news” foe.
Think back to the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his administration’s punitive withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in press briefings.
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 one reason why he appears to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
There is a basis to prefer that company more. For one thing, it is led 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 conservative Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that venerable news network.
A Possibility of Further Turmoil
It is important to note, if Netflix wins, 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 secure position. That structure could set up CNN for another sale. The cycle continues.
According to Timothy Wu, much of this is illegal, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that competition laws should prohibit both deals.
“Either merger would be detrimental to the country, and both should be contested by anti-trust authorities,” Wu argued.
The Bigger Challenge and a Potential Solution
No matter the outcome regarding CNN, the bigger problem remains.
“What we have now is a very structure that undermines democracy, but we shouldn’t give in to learned helplessness,” Pickard said. Government actions – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this profit-obsessed monster, and new policy decisions can tackle it.
Is this likely in an era where the head of the FCC will not confirm that the agency is independent? Change is highly improbable now, but that should not imply it will never happen.
Initiatives that support independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, finance public media, and outlaw the concentration of media power in too few hands are within reach – they are essential for a healthy democracy.
When it comes to media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations like CNN cannot be pieces in the newest merger game.
