Late Thursday, amid swirling speculation regarding a shooting at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins used social media, pointing out the conflicting information and directing people to her channel's 9pm newscast.
While the network is hardly a impeccable news source, her statement seemed accurate for a lot of people. It stands as one of the outlets where you can find fact-based and mostly reliable reporting – notably during fast-moving events like the one developing in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Vulnerable State During a Corporate Battle
Yet CNN, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a uncertain position as two giant media corporations vie for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the fate of CNN has been drawn into a major game of corporate ownership, not as a question of what benefits the information-seeking public.
“This is yet another example of the fundamental flaws with roots in many years of policy decisions,” noted Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the University of Pennsylvania.
The debate about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – could it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a broader point.
“It gets presented as a business story with key players as the protagonists, but there is very little discussion of the public interest,” Pickard added.
The Additional Element: Political Influence
This situation is further muddied by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his chief “fake news” adversary.
Recall the cries of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his administration's retaliatory suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in White House briefings.
Trump now asserts that CNN needs new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will protect him from criticism and scrutiny. That is one reason why he seems to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
There is a basis to favor that company more. For one thing, it is led by David Ellison, son of the Trump-friendly Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
Paramount, parent of CBS News, also recently appointed the conservative Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that storied news network.
A Possibility of Continued Uncertainty
Significantly, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a separate entity. This might be a relief to many at the network, but it’s hardly a guarantee of stability. That structure could pave the way for CNN for a future sale. There is no finish line.
In the view of Timothy Wu, much of this is illegal, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance stated that anti-trust laws should block both deals.
“Either merger would be detrimental to the country, and both should be contested by anti-trust authorities,” Wu stated.
The Bigger Challenge and a Path Forward
Regardless of the resolution with this particular battle, the underlying crisis persists.
“What we have now is a highly anti-democratic system, but we shouldn’t give in to learned helplessness,” Pickard noted. Government actions – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this overly commercial monster, and revised policy decisions can fix it.
Is this likely in an era where the top communications regulator won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Change is a distant prospect now, but that doesn’t mean it will never happen.
Measures that strengthen independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, finance public media, and prohibit the accumulation of media power in too few hands are not only possible – 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 latest merger game.
