On Thursday evening, amid swirling speculation about a shooting at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, noting the confusion and guiding the public to her network’s 9pm newscast.
Although CNN is certainly not a impeccable news source, her statement rang true for a lot of people. It stands as one of the outlets where there exists grounded and generally trustworthy reporting – especially during crises such as the one taking place in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious Position During a Business Battle
However CNN, now 45 years old, finds itself in a uncertain state as two massive media corporations compete for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
No matter the result, the destiny of CNN has become part of a high-stakes game of corporate ownership, rather than as a question of what helps the news-consuming public.
“Here is one more case of the fundamental flaws with roots in decades of regulatory actions,” said Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the University of Pennsylvania.
The debate about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a more important point.
“The narrative is crafted as a business story with powerful individuals as the main characters, but there is very little discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard explained.
A Further Element: Political Influence
The CNN scenario is complicated by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his main “fake news” foe.
Think back to the chants of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his administration’s punitive withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in White House briefings.
Trump now asserts that the network requires new ownership. Many see this as a desire for ownership that will protect him from criticism and scrutiny. That is one reason why he seems to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
He has grounds to like that suitor more. For one thing, it is controlled 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, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that venerable news network.
A Future of More Turmoil
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 welcome development to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a safe harbor. That setup could position CNN for a future sale. It never ends.
In the view of Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is against the law, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance stated that anti-trust laws should block both deals.
“Both acquisition attempts would be bad for the country, and both should be challenged by regulators,” Wu recently wrote.
The Fundamental Issue and a Potential Solution
No matter the outcome regarding CNN, the bigger problem remains.
“The present media landscape is a very anti-democratic system, but we must resist learned helplessness,” Pickard noted. Regulatory choices – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this overly commercial monster, and different policy decisions can tackle it.
Can reform occur in an era where the head of the FCC won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Overhaul is a distant prospect now, but that should not imply it will be impossible forever.
Measures that bolster independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, finance public media, and prevent the consolidation of media power in too few hands are within reach – they are essential for a robust democracy.
In the world of media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations such as CNN must not be tools in the latest corporate chess match.
