On Thursday evening, while unconfirmed reports spread about a shooting at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, pointing out the conflicting information and pointing viewers to her channel's 9pm newscast.
Even though the network is hardly a perfect news source, her statement seemed accurate to many. It remains one of the organizations where one can locate reality-based and mostly reliable reporting – particularly during breaking news situations like the one unfolding in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Vulnerable Situation Amid a Corporate Battle
Yet CNN, now 45 years old, finds itself in a uncertain state as two massive media corporations battle over ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
No matter the result, the future of CNN has been drawn into a major game of business acquisition, not as a question of what benefits the information-seeking public.
“Here is one more case of the profound systemic issues with roots in decades of regulatory actions,” stated Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the University of Pennsylvania.
The debate about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a more important point.
“The narrative is crafted as a financial tale with key players as the protagonists, but there is very little discussion of the common good,” Pickard explained.
A Further Element: Donald Trump
This situation is made more complex by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his primary “fake news” foe.
Think back to the cries of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his team's disciplinary withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in press briefings.
Trump now says that CNN needs new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will shield him from negative coverage and examination. That is one reason why he appears to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
He has grounds to prefer that company more. For one thing, it is led by David Ellison, son of the Trump-friendly 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 editor-in-chief of that venerable news network.
A Possibility of Further Instability
It is important to note, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a standalone company. Such a move could be a relief to many at the network, but it’s far from a guarantee of stability. That arrangement could pave the way for CNN for yet another acquisition. There is no finish line.
According to Timothy Wu, much of this is against the law, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that competition laws should prohibit both deals.
“Each proposed deal would be harmful to the country, and both should be contested by anti-trust authorities,” Wu stated.
The Bigger Challenge and a Path Forward
Regardless of the resolution with this particular battle, the underlying crisis remains.
“The present media landscape is a highly system hostile to democracy, but we shouldn’t give in to a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard noted. Government actions – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this hyper-commercialized monster, and new policy decisions can address it.
Can reform occur in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Overhaul is a distant prospect now, but that should not imply it will not happen in the future.
Measures that bolster independent news organizations, aid local journalism, fund public media, and outlaw the consolidation of media power in too few hands are achievable – they are necessary for a healthy democracy.
When it comes to media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations such as CNN must not be pieces in the most recent acquisition battle.
