This past Thursday night, as rumors swirled regarding an incident at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, pointing out the conflicting information and guiding the public to her network’s 9pm newscast.
While CNN is certainly not a impeccable news source, her message resonated to many. It is one of the organizations where you can find reality-based and largely trustworthy reporting – especially during breaking news situations like the one taking place near a New Hampshire storage facility.
An Uncertain Situation Amid a Business Tug-of-War
However the news network, now 45 years old, finds itself in a uncertain state as two massive media corporations vie for ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the fate of CNN has turned into a major game of business acquisition, instead of as a question of what serves the news-consuming public.
“This represents another instance of the profound systemic issues with origins in decades of regulatory actions,” stated Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the Penn.
The debate about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – could it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a larger point.
“It gets presented as a business story with key players as the protagonists, but there is scant discussion of the public interest,” Pickard explained.
A Further Factor: The Former President
The network's predicament is made more complex by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his primary “fake news” antagonist.
Recall the chants of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his team's disciplinary suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in White House briefings.
Trump now says that CNN needs new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will protect him from negative coverage and examination. That is one reason why he seems to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.
There is a basis to prefer that company more. For one thing, it is led by David Ellison, son of the ally of Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
Paramount, parent of CBS News, also recently installed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that historic news network.
A Possibility of Further Instability
It is important to note, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a standalone company. This might be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s hardly a guarantee of stability. That structure could position CNN for another sale. The cycle continues.
According to Timothy Wu, a lot of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance stated that anti-trust laws should disallow both deals.
“Each proposed deal would be harmful to the country, and both should be challenged by anti-trust authorities,” Wu recently wrote.
The Core Challenge and a Path Forward
Regardless of the resolution regarding CNN, the larger issue endures.
“The present media landscape is a highly system hostile to democracy, but we shouldn’t give in to the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard emphasized. Regulatory choices – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this hyper-commercialized monster, and different policy decisions can fix it.
Will that happen in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair will not confirm that the agency is independent? Change is a distant prospect now, but that doesn’t mean it will not happen in the future.
Initiatives that support independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, subsidize public media, and prevent the consolidation of media power in a handful of hands are achievable – they are necessary for a functioning democracy.
Regarding media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations like CNN must not be pieces in the latest acquisition battle.
