On Thursday evening, while unconfirmed reports spread about a shooting at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins took to social media, pointing out the conflicting information and guiding the public to her network’s 9pm newscast.
Although the network is hardly a flawless news source, her statement resonated for a lot of people. It is one of the broadcasters where there exists grounded and generally dependable reporting – notably during crises such as the one developing close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious State Amid a Business Struggle
However the news network, now 45 years old, finds itself in a uncertain state as two giant media empires compete for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Regardless of who wins, the future of CNN has been drawn into a high-risk game of corporate ownership, instead of as a question of what benefits the information-seeking public.
“This is yet another example of the fundamental flaws with origins in decades of policy decisions,” said Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy at the Penn.
The conjecture about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – could it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a more important point.
“It gets presented as a financial tale with influential figures as the protagonists, but there is scant discussion of the public interest,” Pickard said.
The Complicating Element: The Former President
This situation is further muddied by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his primary “fake news” foe.
Recall the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his administration’s punitive revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in official meetings.
Trump now asserts that CNN needs new ownership. Many see this as a desire for ownership that will protect him from journalistic oversight. That is a factor in why he seems to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.
There is a basis to prefer that bidder more. For one thing, it is led by David Ellison, son of the Trump-friendly Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
The company, owner of CBS News, also recently placed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that venerable news network.
A Future of Continued Turmoil
Notably, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a standalone company. That would be a relief to many at the network, but it’s hardly a safe harbor. That structure could set up CNN for a future sale. The cycle continues.
In the view of Timothy Wu, a lot of this is against the law, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that anti-trust laws should disallow both deals.
“Either merger would be harmful to the country, and both should be contested by regulators,” Wu recently wrote.
The Core Challenge and a Potential Solution
Regardless of the resolution with this particular battle, the larger issue endures.
“The present media landscape is a profoundly anti-democratic system, but we must resist a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard emphasized. Government actions – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this overly commercial monster, and new policy decisions can fix it.
Is this likely in an era where the top communications regulator won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Overhaul is a distant prospect now, but that is not to say it will not happen in the future.
Measures that strengthen independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, finance public media, and prevent the accumulation of media power in too few hands are not only possible – they are vital for a healthy democracy.
When it comes to media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations like CNN must not be pawns in the latest corporate chess match.
