This past Thursday night, as rumors swirled concerning the Brown University gunman, the network's Kaitlan Collins took to social media, noting the confusion and directing people to her network’s 9pm newscast.
While CNN is certainly not a perfect news source, her words rang true for a lot of people. It is one of the organizations where one can locate reality-based and largely trustworthy reporting – particularly during crises like the one developing close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Vulnerable Situation During a High-Stakes Struggle
But the news network, now 45 years old, finds itself in a uncertain state as two giant media conglomerates 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, instead of as a question of what serves the news-consuming public.
“Here is one more case of the fundamental flaws with origins in many years of governmental choices,” noted Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the University of Pennsylvania.
The conjecture about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – could it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a more important point.
“The narrative is crafted as a corporate drama with powerful individuals as the central actors, but there is scant discussion of the common good,” Pickard explained.
The Complicating Element: The Former President
This situation is further muddied by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his main “fake news” antagonist.
Recall the chants of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his administration's retaliatory suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in press briefings.
Trump now asserts that the network requires new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will insulate him from criticism and scrutiny. That is a factor in why he appears to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
He has grounds to favor that company more. For one thing, it is led by David Ellison, son of the pro-Trump 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 top editor of that venerable news network.
An Outcome of Continued Instability
It is important to note, if Netflix is successful, 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 hardly a safe harbor. That arrangement could pave the way for CNN for another sale. The cycle continues.
According to Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance stated that competition laws should disallow both deals.
“Both acquisition attempts would be bad for the country, and both should be opposed by the government,” Wu recently wrote.
The Core Issue and a Potential Solution
Whatever happens regarding CNN, the larger issue persists.
“What we have now is a highly structure that undermines democracy, but we ought not succumb to learned helplessness,” Pickard noted. Government actions – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this overly commercial monster, and different policy decisions can tackle it.
Will that happen in an era where the top communications regulator refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Change is very unlikely now, but that should not imply it will not happen in the future.
Initiatives that strengthen independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, finance public media, and outlaw the consolidation of media power in too few hands are within reach – they are essential for a healthy democracy.
Regarding media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations including CNN cannot be pawns in the latest merger game.
