This past Thursday night, as rumors swirled about a shooting at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins took to social media, pointing out the conflicting information and pointing viewers to her network’s 9pm newscast.
Even though the network is hardly a flawless news source, her statement resonated to many. It is one of the broadcasters where you can find grounded and generally trustworthy reporting – particularly during breaking news situations such as the one taking place close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious Position Amid a Business Tug-of-War
But CNN, now middle-aged, finds itself in a vulnerable situation as two giant media empires compete for ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the fate of CNN has turned into a high-risk game of mergers and acquisitions, instead of as a question of what serves the information-seeking public.
“This is yet another example of the deep structural problems with origins in decades of governmental choices,” stated Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the Pennsylvania University.
The speculation about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – could it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a more important point.
“The narrative is crafted as a financial tale with influential figures as the main characters, but there is very little discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard explained.
The Additional Element: Donald Trump
The CNN scenario is complicated by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his main “fake news” antagonist.
Remember the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his team's disciplinary revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in official meetings.
Trump now asserts that the network requires new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will insulate him from negative coverage and examination. That is part of why he appears to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.
There is a basis to like 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.
Paramount, owner of CBS News, also recently placed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that historic news network.
A Possibility of Continued Turmoil
Notably, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a standalone company. That would be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s far from a guarantee of stability. That structure could set up 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 anti-trust laws should prohibit both deals.
“Both acquisition attempts would be detrimental to the country, and both should be opposed by anti-trust authorities,” Wu recently wrote.
The Bigger Challenge and a Potential Solution
Whatever happens regarding CNN, the larger issue persists.
“The present media landscape is a very system hostile to democracy, but we must resist the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard said. Policy decisions – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this overly commercial monster, and different policy decisions can address it.
Is this likely in an era where the head of the FCC will not confirm that the agency is independent? Change is highly improbable now, but that should not imply it will be impossible forever.
Initiatives that support independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, subsidize public media, and prohibit the consolidation of media power in very few hands are achievable – they are vital for a robust democracy.
In the world of media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations such as CNN must not be pieces in the latest merger game.
