This past Thursday night, amid swirling speculation about the Brown University gunman, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins took to social media, pointing out the conflicting information and pointing viewers to her network’s 9pm newscast.
Although the network is hardly a flawless news source, her message seemed accurate for numerous observers. It remains one of the broadcasters where you can find reality-based and generally dependable reporting – notably during crises like the one taking place close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious Situation Amid a High-Stakes Battle
However the news network, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a precarious situation as two massive media corporations battle over ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
No matter the result, the future of CNN has become part of a high-stakes game of corporate ownership, rather than as a question of what helps the information-seeking public.
“This is yet another example of the deep structural problems with roots in many years of policy decisions,” noted Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the Pennsylvania University.
The conjecture 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 key players as the central actors, but there is hardly any discussion of the public interest,” Pickard said.
A Further Layer: Donald Trump
The CNN scenario is complicated by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his chief “fake news” foe.
Remember the cries of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his administration’s punitive suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in press briefings.
Trump now asserts that CNN needs new ownership. Many see this as a desire for ownership that will shield him from journalistic oversight. That is one reason why he seems to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
He has grounds to like that company more. For one thing, it is run by David Ellison, son of the Trump-friendly Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
The company, 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 storied news network.
An Outcome of More Instability
Significantly, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a separate entity. Such a move could be a relief to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a secure position. That structure could pave the way for CNN for yet another acquisition. The cycle continues.
In the view of Timothy Wu, a lot of this is illegal, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance recently argued that competition laws should disallow both deals.
“Both acquisition attempts would be harmful to the country, and both should be contested by the government,” Wu recently wrote.
The Fundamental Issue and a Way Ahead
Whatever happens in this situation, the bigger problem persists.
“Our current system is a very system hostile to democracy, but we must resist a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard said. Regulatory choices – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this hyper-commercialized monster, and revised policy decisions can address it.
Will that happen in an era where the top communications regulator refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Reform is very unlikely now, but that is not to say it will be impossible forever.
Policies that strengthen independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, finance public media, and prevent the accumulation of media power in very few hands are achievable – they are vital for a healthy democracy.
Regarding media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations like CNN cannot be pawns in the most recent corporate chess match.
