On Thursday evening, as rumors swirled regarding an incident at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, noting the confusion and directing people to her network’s 9pm newscast.
Although the network is hardly a perfect news source, her words rang true to many. It stands as one of the broadcasters where there exists reality-based and mostly dependable reporting – particularly during fast-moving events such as the one unfolding close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious Position Amid a Corporate Battle
Yet the news network, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a vulnerable position as two huge media empires battle over ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the destiny of CNN has turned into a major game of business acquisition, rather than as a question of what helps the information-seeking public.
“Here is one more case of the deep structural problems with roots in many years of policy decisions,” said Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the Penn.
The debate about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a larger point.
“The narrative is crafted as a corporate drama with influential figures as the main characters, but there is very little discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard explained.
The Complicating Factor: Political Influence
This situation is made more complex by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his primary “fake news” foe.
Recall the chants of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his team's disciplinary revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in official meetings.
Trump now claims that the network requires new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will insulate him from journalistic oversight. That is one reason why he seems to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.
There is a basis to prefer that suitor more. For one thing, it is run by David Ellison, son of the pro-Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
Paramount, parent of CBS News, also recently placed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that venerable news network.
A Future of Continued Turmoil
Notably, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a separate entity. That would be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a secure position. That setup could pave the way for CNN for yet another acquisition. The cycle continues.
In the view of Timothy Wu, a lot of this is against the law, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that anti-trust laws should disallow both deals.
“Both acquisition attempts would be detrimental to the country, and both should be opposed by the government,” Wu argued.
The Core Challenge and a Potential Solution
No matter the outcome with this particular battle, the bigger problem persists.
“Our current system is a highly system hostile to democracy, but we must resist a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard emphasized. Government actions – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this profit-obsessed monster, and revised policy decisions can fix it.
Is this likely 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 be impossible forever.
Measures that strengthen independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, fund public media, and prevent the consolidation of media power in too few hands are achievable – they are necessary for a healthy democracy.
In the world of media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations like CNN must not be pieces in the latest acquisition battle.
