This past Thursday night, amid swirling speculation concerning the Brown University gunman, the network's Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, highlighting the uncertainty and pointing viewers to her network’s 9pm newscast.
Even though it is by no means a perfect news source, her message rang true to many. It stands as one of the broadcasters where one can locate fact-based and mostly reliable reporting – especially during crises such as the one unfolding close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
An Uncertain Position During a Business Battle
Yet the news network, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a uncertain state as two huge media empires battle over ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Regardless of who wins, the fate of CNN has been drawn into a high-risk game of mergers and acquisitions, instead of as a question of what benefits the information-seeking public.
“Here is one more case of the fundamental flaws with origins in decades of regulatory actions,” noted 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 – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a larger point.
“It is often framed as a business story with powerful individuals as the main characters, but there is very little discussion of the common good,” Pickard explained.
The Complicating Factor: Political Influence
This situation is complicated by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his chief “fake news” adversary.
Remember the cries of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his team's disciplinary withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his clashes with Collins in press briefings.
Trump now says that CNN needs new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will shield him from journalistic oversight. That is one reason why he appears to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
Trump has reason to like that suitor more. For one thing, it is controlled by David Ellison, son of the ally of Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
Paramount, owner of CBS News, also recently placed the conservative Bari Weiss, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that venerable news network.
An Outcome of Continued Instability
Notably, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a independent unit. This might 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. There is no finish line.
According to Timothy Wu, much of this is illegal, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance recently argued that competition laws should disallow both deals.
“Both acquisition attempts would be detrimental to the country, and both should be challenged by anti-trust authorities,” Wu argued.
The Fundamental Problem and a Way Ahead
Whatever happens in this situation, the underlying crisis remains.
“Our current system is a highly anti-democratic system, but we shouldn’t give in to learned helplessness,” Pickard noted. Government actions – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this profit-obsessed monster, and new policy decisions can address it.
Can reform occur in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Overhaul is a distant prospect now, but that doesn’t mean it will never happen.
Policies that strengthen independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, subsidize public media, and outlaw the consolidation of media power in a handful of hands are achievable – they are essential for a functioning democracy.
When it comes to media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations such as CNN cannot be pawns in the most recent acquisition battle.
