On Thursday evening, amid swirling speculation concerning a shooting at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins took to social media, pointing out the conflicting information and guiding the public to her network’s 9pm newscast.
Although it is by no means a impeccable news source, her words resonated for numerous observers. It remains one of the broadcasters where there exists grounded and mostly trustworthy reporting – particularly during breaking news situations such as the one developing in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious Situation Amid a High-Stakes Battle
Yet CNN, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a precarious situation as two giant media conglomerates compete for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
No matter the result, the destiny of CNN has become part of a high-stakes game of mergers and acquisitions, rather than as a question of what serves the information-seeking public.
“Here is one more case of the fundamental flaws with roots in many years of policy decisions,” stated Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Penn.
The debate about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – could it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a larger point.
“The narrative is crafted as a business story with powerful individuals as the protagonists, but there is scant discussion of the public interest,” Pickard explained.
The Additional Layer: The Former President
The network's predicament is complicated by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his main “fake news” antagonist.
Recall the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his administration’s punitive withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in official meetings.
Trump now asserts that the network requires new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will protect him from criticism and scrutiny. That is part of why he appears to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.
There is a basis to favor that bidder more. For one thing, it is led 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 placed the conservative Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that venerable news network.
A Possibility of Continued Uncertainty
It is important to note, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a separate entity. Such a move could be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s far from a guarantee of stability. That setup could pave the way for CNN for another sale. There is no finish line.
According to Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that competition laws should block both deals.
“Both acquisition attempts would be detrimental to the country, and both should be challenged by anti-trust authorities,” Wu argued.
The Core Problem and a Path Forward
No matter the outcome in this situation, the larger issue remains.
“What we have now is a highly structure that undermines democracy, but we ought not succumb to the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard said. Government actions – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this profit-obsessed monster, and new policy decisions can fix it.
Will that happen in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Change is highly improbable now, but that should not imply it will never happen.
Policies that bolster independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, finance public media, and outlaw the accumulation of media power in very few hands are achievable – they are vital for a healthy democracy.
When it comes to media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations including CNN must not be pieces in the newest acquisition battle.
