Late Thursday, while unconfirmed reports spread about an incident at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins used social media, noting the confusion and pointing viewers to her network’s 9pm newscast.
Even though CNN is certainly not a flawless news source, her message seemed accurate to many. It stands as one of the broadcasters where one can locate reality-based and largely reliable reporting – particularly during crises such as the one taking place close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Vulnerable State Amid a Corporate Struggle
Yet the news network, now 45 years old, finds itself in a precarious situation as two huge media empires compete for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Regardless of who wins, the future of CNN has become part of a high-risk game of corporate ownership, rather than as a question of what helps the news-consuming public.
“This represents another instance of the profound systemic issues with origins in decades of governmental choices,” noted Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Penn.
The conjecture about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a broader point.
“It gets presented as a financial tale with influential figures as the main characters, but there is scant discussion of the common good,” Pickard explained.
The Complicating Factor: Political Influence
The CNN scenario is complicated by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his main “fake news” antagonist.
Remember the cries of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his administration's retaliatory suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his clashes with Collins in White House briefings.
Trump now says that CNN needs new ownership. Many see this as a desire for ownership that will shield him from negative coverage and examination. That is a factor in why he seems to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.
There is a basis to favor that company 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, parent of CBS News, also recently placed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that venerable news network.
An Outcome of Continued Turmoil
Significantly, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a separate entity. That would be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s far from a secure position. That structure could pave the way for CNN for another sale. It never ends.
If you ask Timothy Wu, a lot of this is against the law, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance recently argued that anti-trust laws should prohibit both deals.
“Both acquisition attempts would be harmful to the country, and both should be contested by the government,” Wu recently wrote.
The Bigger Challenge and a Way Ahead
Regardless of the resolution regarding CNN, the bigger problem endures.
“Our current system is a very anti-democratic system, but we must resist a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard said. Government actions – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this profit-obsessed monster, and revised policy decisions can tackle it.
Can reform occur in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Reform is very unlikely now, but that should not imply it will never happen.
Measures that support independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, subsidize public media, and outlaw the concentration of media power in too few hands are within reach – they are essential for a robust democracy.
When it comes to media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations including CNN must not be tools in the newest acquisition battle.
