This past Thursday night, as rumors swirled about an incident at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins used social media, pointing out the conflicting information and directing people to her channel's 9pm newscast.
Although CNN is certainly not a perfect news source, her message rang true to many. It remains one of the broadcasters where there exists reality-based and mostly reliable reporting – particularly during breaking news situations like the one taking place close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
An Uncertain State Amid a High-Stakes Battle
But CNN, now 45 years old, finds itself in a precarious position as two huge media conglomerates battle over ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
No matter the result, the destiny of CNN has become part of a high-risk 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 roots in decades of policy decisions,” noted Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the University of Pennsylvania.
The conjecture about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – could it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a larger point.
“The narrative is crafted as a business story with key players as the central actors, but there is very little discussion of the common good,” Pickard added.
The Additional Layer: The Former President
This situation is made more complex by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his chief “fake news” antagonist.
Recall the cries of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his team's disciplinary withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in official meetings.
Trump now says that CNN needs new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will protect him from criticism and scrutiny. That is part of why he seems to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.
There is a basis to like that company more. For one thing, it is controlled 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 installed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that storied news network.
An Outcome of More Uncertainty
Significantly, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a independent unit. That would be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s far from a secure position. That setup could pave the way for CNN for yet another acquisition. It never ends.
According to Timothy Wu, much of this is illegal, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that competition laws should block both deals.
“Each proposed deal would be harmful to the country, and both should be opposed by regulators,” Wu recently wrote.
The Bigger Problem and a Path Forward
No matter the outcome with this particular battle, the underlying crisis persists.
“What we have now is a very structure that undermines democracy, but we ought not succumb to the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard said. Government actions – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this profit-obsessed monster, and new policy decisions can fix it.
Can reform occur in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Change is very unlikely now, but that is not to say it will never happen.
Policies that support independent news organizations, aid local journalism, finance public media, and prevent the consolidation of media power in a handful of hands are within reach – they are vital for a robust democracy.
Regarding media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations like CNN shouldn’t be pieces in the latest corporate chess match.
