This past Thursday night, amid swirling speculation concerning the Brown University gunman, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins took to social media, noting the confusion and directing people to her channel's 9pm newscast.
Although it is by no means a flawless news source, her message resonated for numerous observers. It remains one of the outlets where you can find reality-based and largely trustworthy reporting – especially during crises like the one developing in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.
An Uncertain State Amid a Business Tug-of-War
However CNN, now 45 years old, finds itself in a precarious situation as two giant media empires vie for ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
Regardless of who wins, the future of CNN has been drawn into a high-stakes game of business acquisition, instead of as a question of what benefits the news-consuming public.
“This represents another instance of the fundamental flaws with roots in many years of regulatory actions,” stated Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Pennsylvania University.
The speculation about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a larger point.
“The narrative is crafted as a financial tale with powerful individuals as the central actors, but there is hardly any discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard said.
The Complicating Factor: The Former President
The network's predicament is complicated by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his primary “fake news” adversary.
Recall the chants of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his administration's retaliatory revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in official meetings.
Trump now says that CNN needs new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will protect him from negative coverage and examination. That is a factor in why he appears to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.
There is a basis to prefer that company 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 installed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that historic news network.
An Outcome of Continued Instability
Notably, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a standalone company. This might be a relief to many at the network, but it’s far from a safe harbor. That structure could pave the way for CNN for a future sale. The cycle continues.
If you ask Timothy Wu, much of this is illegal, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance recently argued that competition laws should prohibit both deals.
“Each proposed deal would be bad for the country, and both should be opposed by the government,” Wu stated.
The Bigger Challenge and a Way Ahead
Whatever happens with this particular battle, the underlying crisis persists.
“What we have now is a highly system hostile to democracy, but we shouldn’t give in to the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard emphasized. Regulatory choices – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this overly commercial monster, and different policy decisions can fix it.
Can reform occur in an era where the head of the FCC refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Reform is very unlikely now, but that doesn’t mean it will never happen.
Policies that support independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, fund public media, and prevent the concentration of media power in very few hands are not only possible – they are vital for a healthy democracy.
Regarding media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations like CNN cannot be tools in the latest acquisition battle.
