This past Thursday night, amid swirling speculation regarding a shooting at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins took to social media, noting the confusion and guiding the public to her network’s 9pm newscast.
Even though it is by no means a perfect news source, her words rang true to many. It remains one of the broadcasters where you can find reality-based and largely dependable reporting – notably during breaking news situations such as the one unfolding close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Vulnerable State During a Business Struggle
However CNN, now 45 years old, finds itself in a vulnerable situation as two giant media empires vie for ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
Regardless of who wins, the future of CNN has turned into a major game of mergers and acquisitions, not as a question of what helps the news-consuming public.
“Here is one more case of the fundamental flaws with origins in decades of regulatory actions,” stated Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy at the Pennsylvania University.
The speculation about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a larger point.
“It gets presented as a business story with powerful individuals as the protagonists, but there is hardly any discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard explained.
A Further Factor: The Former President
This situation is further muddied by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his chief “fake news” adversary.
Remember the chants of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his administration's retaliatory revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in White House briefings.
Trump now asserts that the network requires new ownership. Many see this as a desire for ownership that will shield him from journalistic oversight. That is part of why he seems to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.
Trump has reason to prefer that company more. For one thing, it is controlled by David Ellison, son of the pro-Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
Paramount, parent of CBS News, also recently installed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that storied news network.
A Future of Continued Instability
It is important to note, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a separate entity. This might be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s hardly a safe harbor. That arrangement could pave the way for CNN for another 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 stated that competition laws should prohibit both deals.
“Each proposed deal would be harmful to the country, and both should be contested by regulators,” Wu stated.
The Bigger Challenge and a Potential Solution
Regardless of the resolution regarding CNN, the underlying crisis persists.
“Our current system is a very system hostile to democracy, but we shouldn’t give in to the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard said. Policy decisions – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this profit-obsessed monster, and different policy decisions can address it.
Can reform occur in an era where the top communications regulator won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Change is very unlikely now, but that doesn’t mean it will never happen.
Measures that strengthen independent news organizations, aid local journalism, subsidize public media, and prohibit the concentration of media power in too few hands are not only possible – they are essential for a functioning democracy.
In the world of media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations like CNN must not be pieces in the most recent acquisition battle.
