This past Thursday night, while unconfirmed reports spread regarding the Brown University gunman, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, highlighting the uncertainty and directing people to her network’s 9pm newscast.
Even though it is by no means a perfect news source, her statement resonated to many. It is one of the outlets where one can locate grounded and generally dependable reporting – especially during fast-moving events like the one developing in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious State During a Business Tug-of-War
But CNN, now middle-aged, finds itself in a uncertain situation as two huge media corporations compete for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Regardless of who wins, the fate of CNN has become part of a major game of business acquisition, instead of as a question of what serves the information-seeking public.
“This represents another instance of the deep structural problems with origins in decades of regulatory actions,” stated Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Penn.
The conjecture about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a larger point.
“It is often framed as a corporate drama with influential figures as the central actors, but there is very little discussion of the public interest,” Pickard explained.
A Further Layer: Donald Trump
This situation is made more complex by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his main “fake news” antagonist.
Recall the cries of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his administration’s punitive suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in press briefings.
Trump now asserts that CNN needs new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will protect him from negative coverage and examination. That is part of why he seems to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
There is a basis to favor that suitor more. For one thing, it is led by David Ellison, son of the ally of Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
Paramount, parent of CBS News, also recently appointed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that historic news network.
An Outcome of Continued Uncertainty
Significantly, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a independent unit. Such a move could be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s hardly a safe harbor. That structure could position CNN for a future sale. The cycle continues.
In the view of Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is illegal, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that competition laws should disallow both deals.
“Either merger would be bad for the country, and both should be opposed by the government,” Wu recently wrote.
The Fundamental Issue and a Potential Solution
Whatever happens in this situation, the bigger problem remains.
“The present media landscape is a profoundly system hostile to democracy, but we ought not succumb to a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard said. Government actions – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this profit-obsessed monster, and new policy decisions can tackle it.
Can reform occur in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair will not confirm that the agency is independent? Change is very unlikely now, but that doesn’t mean it will not happen in the future.
Policies that bolster independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, subsidize public media, and prevent the concentration of media power in very few hands are achievable – they are essential for a robust democracy.
Regarding media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations such as CNN shouldn’t be pawns in the newest acquisition battle.
