Late Thursday, amid swirling speculation regarding the Brown University gunman, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins took to social media, noting the confusion and guiding the public to her channel's 9pm newscast.
Even though it is by no means a impeccable news source, her message resonated for numerous observers. It stands as one of the outlets where there exists grounded and largely trustworthy reporting – especially during fast-moving events like the one unfolding in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious State Amid a Corporate Battle
However the news network, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a vulnerable situation as two massive media empires battle over ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the future of CNN has been drawn into a major game of business acquisition, rather than as a question of what serves the news-consuming public.
“This is yet another example of the profound systemic issues with roots in many years of regulatory actions,” noted Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the University of Pennsylvania.
The speculation about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – will 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 protagonists, but there is scant discussion of the public interest,” Pickard said.
The Additional Layer: The Former President
The network's predicament is further muddied by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his primary “fake news” foe.
Remember the cries of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his administration’s punitive revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his clashes with Collins in White House briefings.
Trump now asserts that the network requires new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will insulate him from journalistic oversight. That is one reason why he seems to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.
He has grounds to like that bidder more. For one thing, it is run by David Ellison, son of the ally of Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
The company, parent of CBS News, also recently installed the conservative Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that historic news network.
A Possibility of Further Uncertainty
It is important to note, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a independent unit. That would be a relief to many at the network, but it’s hardly a secure position. That setup could pave the way for CNN for another sale. It never ends.
According to Timothy Wu, a lot of this is illegal, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that competition laws should prohibit both deals.
“Each proposed deal would be harmful to the country, and both should be opposed by the government,” Wu argued.
The Bigger Challenge and a Way Ahead
Regardless of the resolution regarding CNN, the larger issue persists.
“Our current system is a profoundly system hostile to democracy, but we ought not succumb to a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard emphasized. Policy decisions – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this overly commercial monster, and revised policy decisions can address it.
Is this likely in an era where the top communications regulator refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Reform is highly improbable now, but that is not to say it will never happen.
Initiatives that strengthen independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, subsidize public media, and prohibit the concentration of media power in a handful of hands are achievable – they are necessary for a functioning democracy.
When it comes to media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations including CNN cannot be tools in the newest corporate chess match.
