Late Thursday, as rumors swirled about an incident at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins used social media, noting the confusion and directing people to her channel's 9pm newscast.
While the network is hardly a flawless news source, her words resonated for numerous observers. It remains one of the organizations where one can locate grounded and generally dependable reporting – particularly during crises like the one taking place in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.
An Uncertain State During a Business Struggle
However CNN, now 45 years old, finds itself in a vulnerable position as two massive media empires vie for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
No matter the result, the fate of CNN has turned into a major game of mergers and acquisitions, rather than as a question of what benefits the information-seeking public.
“This is yet another example of the fundamental flaws with roots in many years of regulatory actions,” stated Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the University of Pennsylvania.
The debate about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a more important point.
“It is often framed as a financial tale with powerful individuals as the protagonists, but there is scant discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard explained.
The Additional Layer: The Former President
The network's predicament is further muddied by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his main “fake news” adversary.
Remember the cries of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his administration’s punitive revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his clashes with Collins in official meetings.
Trump now claims that the network requires new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will insulate him from journalistic oversight. That is a factor in why he seems to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.
He has grounds to like that bidder 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.
The company, parent of CBS News, also recently installed the conservative Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that venerable news network.
A Possibility of Further Turmoil
Notably, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a independent unit. This might be a relief to many at the network, but it’s far from a secure position. That setup could pave the way for CNN for a future sale. There is no finish line.
In the view of Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that anti-trust laws should disallow both deals.
“Each proposed deal would be bad for the country, and both should be challenged by regulators,” Wu recently wrote.
The Core Problem and a Potential Solution
No matter the outcome in this situation, the underlying crisis persists.
“Our current system is a very structure that undermines democracy, but we ought not succumb to the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard emphasized. Regulatory choices – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this profit-obsessed monster, and different policy decisions can fix it.
Will that happen in an era where the head of the FCC will not confirm that the agency is independent? Overhaul is highly improbable now, but that is not to say it will never happen.
Policies that support independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, fund public media, and prohibit the concentration of media power in too few hands are within reach – they are vital for a robust democracy.
In the world of media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations including CNN shouldn’t be tools in the most recent corporate chess match.
