On Thursday evening, as rumors swirled regarding the Brown University gunman, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins took to social media, highlighting the uncertainty and directing people to her channel's 9pm newscast.
Although it is by no means a impeccable news source, her statement seemed accurate to many. It remains one of the organizations where one can locate grounded and mostly trustworthy reporting – notably during crises such as the one unfolding near a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Vulnerable Situation During a Business Struggle
However CNN, now 45 years old, finds itself in a vulnerable state as two huge media conglomerates compete for ownership of its corporate owner, 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 serves the information-seeking public.
“Here is one more case of the profound systemic issues with origins in many years of policy decisions,” said Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the University of Pennsylvania.
The speculation about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a larger point.
“It is often framed as a business story with key players as the protagonists, but there is scant discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard added.
The Complicating Element: Political Influence
The network's predicament is made more complex by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his chief “fake news” antagonist.
Recall the cries of “CNN sucks!” at the president’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 CNN needs new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will protect him from negative coverage and examination. That is one reason why he seems to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.
Trump has reason to prefer that bidder more. For one thing, it is led by David Ellison, son of the pro-Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
The company, parent of CBS News, also recently appointed the conservative Bari Weiss, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that historic news network.
A Future of More Uncertainty
Significantly, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a independent unit. Such a move could be a relief to many at the network, but it’s hardly a secure position. That structure could set up CNN for a future sale. The cycle continues.
If you ask Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is against the law, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that competition laws should disallow both deals.
“Each proposed deal would be detrimental to the country, and both should be challenged by regulators,” Wu stated.
The Bigger Problem and a Potential Solution
Regardless of the resolution with this particular battle, the underlying crisis endures.
“What we have now is a highly structure that undermines democracy, but we ought not succumb to a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard said. Regulatory choices – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this profit-obsessed monster, and different policy decisions can address it.
Will that happen in an era where the top communications regulator won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Change is a distant prospect now, but that is not to say it will never happen.
Initiatives that strengthen independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, fund public media, and prevent the concentration of media power in very few hands are achievable – they are essential for a robust democracy.
In the world of media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations including CNN shouldn’t be tools in the most recent corporate chess match.
