On Thursday evening, as rumors swirled about an incident at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins used social media, highlighting the uncertainty and directing people to her channel's 9pm newscast.
Although the network is hardly a perfect news source, her words resonated for a lot of people. It stands as one of the broadcasters where you can find grounded and generally dependable reporting – notably during crises like the one taking place near a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Vulnerable Position During a High-Stakes Tug-of-War
However CNN, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a vulnerable position as two huge media conglomerates compete 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 serves the news-consuming public.
“This represents another instance of the fundamental flaws with origins in many years of policy decisions,” said Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the Pennsylvania University.
The debate about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a more important point.
“The narrative is crafted as a financial tale with key players as the central actors, but there is hardly any discussion of the common good,” Pickard explained.
The Additional Layer: The Former President
This situation is made more complex by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his chief “fake news” adversary.
Recall the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's 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. This can be interpreted as ownership that will protect him from negative coverage and examination. That is a factor in why he appears to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.
He has grounds to prefer 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, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that historic news network.
A Future of Continued Instability
Notably, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a separate entity. Such a move could be a relief to many at the network, but it’s hardly a safe harbor. That setup could pave the way for CNN for yet another acquisition. 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 stated that competition laws should block both deals.
“Either merger would be harmful to the country, and both should be contested by anti-trust authorities,” Wu stated.
The Bigger Issue and a Potential Solution
Regardless of the resolution in this situation, the bigger problem remains.
“Our current system is a profoundly system hostile to democracy, but we shouldn’t give in to the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard noted. Government actions – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this hyper-commercialized monster, and different policy decisions can tackle it.
Can reform occur in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Change is highly improbable now, but that doesn’t mean it will be impossible forever.
Initiatives that bolster independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, fund public media, and prohibit the accumulation of media power in very few hands are within reach – they are vital for a functioning democracy.
Regarding media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations like CNN must not be pieces in the latest corporate chess match.
