On Thursday evening, amid swirling speculation concerning the Brown University gunman, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, noting the confusion and guiding the public to her channel's 9pm newscast.
While it is by no means a impeccable news source, her statement resonated for a lot of people. It stands as one of the broadcasters where you can find reality-based and mostly dependable reporting – especially during fast-moving events such as the one developing near a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Vulnerable Position Amid a High-Stakes Tug-of-War
Yet 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 become part of a high-stakes game of corporate ownership, instead of as a question of what serves the information-seeking public.
“Here is one more case of the deep structural problems with roots in decades of governmental choices,” noted Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Pennsylvania University.
The speculation about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a broader point.
“It gets presented as a business story with influential figures as the protagonists, but there is hardly any discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard added.
The Additional Layer: Political Influence
The network's predicament is complicated by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his chief “fake news” foe.
Remember the chants 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 press briefings.
Trump now says that CNN needs new ownership. Many see this as a desire for ownership that will protect him from negative coverage and examination. That is a factor in why he appears to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.
Trump has reason to prefer 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.
The company, parent of CBS News, also recently placed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, known 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 wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a independent unit. Such a move could be a relief to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a safe harbor. That arrangement could position CNN for another sale. The cycle continues.
In the view of Timothy Wu, much of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance recently argued that anti-trust laws should prohibit both deals.
“Either merger would be bad for the country, and both should be contested by anti-trust authorities,” Wu argued.
The Bigger Issue and a Way Ahead
No matter the outcome in this situation, the larger issue endures.
“Our current system is a profoundly anti-democratic system, but we must resist a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard emphasized. Regulatory choices – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this profit-obsessed monster, and revised policy decisions can tackle it.
Will that happen in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Change is highly improbable now, but that is not to say it will not happen in the future.
Measures that bolster independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, finance public media, and prohibit the concentration of media power in a handful of hands are achievable – they are necessary for a functioning democracy.
In the world of media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations such as CNN shouldn’t be pawns in the most recent acquisition battle.
