Late Thursday, as rumors swirled regarding a shooting at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins took to social media, highlighting the uncertainty and directing people to her channel's 9pm newscast.
Even though CNN is certainly not a flawless news source, her message resonated for a lot of people. It remains one of the organizations where one can locate grounded and largely reliable reporting – especially during crises like the one unfolding close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
An Uncertain Situation During a Corporate Tug-of-War
But the news network, now 45 years old, finds itself in a precarious state as two huge media conglomerates compete for ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
No matter the result, the fate of CNN has become part of a major game of mergers and acquisitions, rather than as a question of what helps the information-seeking public.
“This represents another instance of the fundamental flaws with roots in many years of policy decisions,” noted Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor 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 larger point.
“It is often framed as a corporate drama with powerful individuals as the main characters, but there is scant discussion of the public interest,” Pickard added.
A Further Element: Donald Trump
The network's predicament is further muddied by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his primary “fake news” antagonist.
Recall the chants of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his team's disciplinary withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in press briefings.
Trump now claims that the network requires new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will insulate him from criticism and scrutiny. That is one reason why he appears to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
He has grounds to favor that bidder more. For one thing, it is run by David Ellison, son of the Trump-friendly 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 venerable news network.
An Outcome of More Turmoil
Notably, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a separate entity. That would be a relief to many at the network, but it’s far from a safe harbor. That arrangement could pave the way for CNN for a future sale. There is no finish line.
In the view of Timothy Wu, a lot of this is against the law, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance recently argued that competition laws should disallow both deals.
“Both acquisition attempts would be bad for the country, and both should be challenged by the government,” Wu argued.
The Fundamental Challenge and a Path Forward
Whatever happens with this particular battle, the bigger problem persists.
“What we have now is a profoundly system hostile to democracy, but we must resist learned helplessness,” Pickard noted. Government actions – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this overly commercial monster, and different policy decisions can address it.
Can reform occur in an era where the top communications regulator will not confirm that the agency is independent? Change is very unlikely now, but that should not imply it will never happen.
Initiatives that strengthen independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, finance public media, and prevent the concentration of media power in very few hands are achievable – they are vital for a functioning democracy.
When it comes to media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations including CNN must not be pieces in the most recent merger game.
