On Thursday evening, while unconfirmed reports spread regarding a shooting at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins took to social media, pointing out the conflicting information and directing people to her channel's 9pm newscast.
While it is by no means a flawless news source, her message rang true for numerous observers. It stands as one of the outlets where one can locate grounded and largely trustworthy reporting – notably during breaking news situations like the one developing close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious State During a High-Stakes Tug-of-War
Yet the news network, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a precarious situation as two giant media conglomerates vie for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Regardless of who wins, the fate of CNN has turned into a high-risk game of business acquisition, rather than as a question of what helps the news-consuming public.
“Here is one more case of the fundamental flaws with origins in many years of regulatory actions,” said Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the Pennsylvania University.
The debate about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a broader point.
“It gets presented as a financial tale with key players as the main characters, but there is hardly any discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard said.
A Further Factor: Donald Trump
The CNN scenario is complicated by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his main “fake news” foe.
Think back to the cries of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his administration’s punitive withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in press briefings.
Trump now asserts that the network requires new ownership. This can be interpreted as 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 unsolicited offer.
Trump has reason to favor that suitor more. For one thing, it is run 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, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that venerable news network.
An Outcome of Continued Turmoil
Notably, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a independent unit. This might be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s hardly a safe harbor. That structure could set up CNN for yet another acquisition. It never ends.
According to Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is illegal, anyway. The well-known analyst 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 challenged by regulators,” Wu stated.
The Core Problem and a Path Forward
Whatever happens regarding CNN, the larger issue remains.
“Our current system is a very anti-democratic system, but we ought not succumb to learned helplessness,” Pickard said. Regulatory choices – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this profit-obsessed monster, and new policy decisions can fix it.
Is this likely in an era where the head of the FCC won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Overhaul is highly improbable now, but that doesn’t mean it will never happen.
Measures that bolster independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, fund public media, and outlaw the consolidation of media power in too few hands are within reach – they are necessary for a robust democracy.
When it comes to media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations like CNN must not be pawns in the most recent acquisition battle.
