This past Thursday night, as rumors swirled concerning the Brown University gunman, the network's Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, pointing out the conflicting information and guiding the public to her network’s 9pm newscast.
Although the network is hardly a flawless news source, her words seemed accurate for a lot of people. It stands as one of the broadcasters where there exists fact-based and mostly dependable reporting – notably during breaking news situations like the one developing close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious Position Amid a Business Struggle
Yet the news network, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a vulnerable state as two giant media empires vie for ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the destiny of CNN has been drawn into a major game of corporate ownership, rather than as a question of what helps the information-seeking public.
“This represents another instance of the profound systemic issues with roots in decades of regulatory actions,” noted Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the Pennsylvania University.
The conjecture about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a broader point.
“The narrative is crafted as a financial tale with key players as the main characters, but there is scant discussion of the public interest,” Pickard explained.
The Additional Element: The Former President
The CNN scenario is further muddied by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his chief “fake news” antagonist.
Remember the chants of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his administration’s punitive revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in official meetings.
Trump now claims that CNN needs new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will insulate him from journalistic oversight. That is one reason why he appears to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
Trump has reason to like that company more. For one thing, it is led by David Ellison, son of the ally of Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
Paramount, parent of CBS News, also recently placed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that venerable news network.
An Outcome of Continued Turmoil
Notably, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a separate entity. This might be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s hardly a guarantee of stability. That arrangement could set up CNN for a future sale. There is no finish line.
If you ask Timothy Wu, a lot of this is illegal, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance recently argued that anti-trust laws should prohibit both deals.
“Either merger would be bad for the country, and both should be contested by the government,” Wu stated.
The Bigger Problem and a Potential Solution
Regardless of the resolution in this situation, the larger issue endures.
“The present media landscape is a profoundly anti-democratic system, but we ought not succumb to a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard said. Regulatory choices – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this profit-obsessed monster, and different policy decisions can address it.
Will that happen in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair will not confirm that the agency is independent? Overhaul is highly improbable now, but that should not imply it will not happen in the future.
Measures that support independent news organizations, aid local journalism, fund public media, and prohibit the concentration of media power in too few hands are achievable – they are vital for a functioning democracy.
In the world of media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations such as CNN shouldn’t be pieces in the newest merger game.
