This past Thursday night, while unconfirmed reports spread about an incident at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins took to social media, pointing out the conflicting information and directing people to her network’s 9pm newscast.
Although the network is hardly a impeccable news source, her message seemed accurate for numerous observers. It remains one of the broadcasters where there exists grounded and mostly trustworthy reporting – particularly during breaking news situations such as the one developing near a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious Situation Amid a High-Stakes Tug-of-War
Yet CNN, now middle-aged, finds itself in a uncertain position as two huge media corporations battle over ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
Regardless of who wins, the fate of CNN has become part of a high-risk game of corporate ownership, instead of as a question of what serves the news-consuming public.
“This is yet another example of the fundamental flaws with roots in decades of governmental choices,” noted Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Penn.
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.
“It is often framed as a corporate drama with key players as the central actors, but there is scant discussion of the public interest,” Pickard explained.
The Complicating Layer: The Former President
The CNN scenario is complicated by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his main “fake news” foe.
Recall the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his administration’s punitive 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. Many see this as a desire for ownership that will insulate him from criticism and scrutiny. That is a factor in why he appears to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.
He has grounds to like that suitor 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, owner of CBS News, also recently appointed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that venerable news network.
A Possibility of Continued Turmoil
Significantly, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a standalone company. That would be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a guarantee of stability. That arrangement could position CNN for another sale. There is no finish line.
In the view of Timothy Wu, much of this is illegal, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance recently argued that competition laws should block both deals.
“Each proposed deal would be detrimental to the country, and both should be challenged by the government,” Wu argued.
The Core Issue and a Potential Solution
Regardless of the resolution with this particular battle, the larger issue persists.
“Our current system is a very system hostile to democracy, but we ought not succumb to a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard noted. Policy decisions – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this hyper-commercialized monster, and different policy decisions can address it.
Is this likely in an era where the head of the FCC won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Change is very unlikely now, but that is not to say it will be impossible forever.
Policies that bolster independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, fund public media, and prevent the concentration of media power in very few hands are within reach – they are essential for a functioning democracy.
Regarding media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations such as CNN must not be tools in the newest merger game.
