This past Thursday night, amid swirling speculation concerning the Brown University gunman, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, noting the confusion and directing people to her channel's 9pm newscast.
Although it is by no means a perfect news source, her statement seemed accurate for numerous observers. It remains one of the organizations where you can find fact-based and generally reliable reporting – especially during crises like the one taking place close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Vulnerable State Amid a Business Battle
Yet CNN, now 45 years old, finds itself in a precarious situation as two giant media corporations vie for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the future of CNN has become part of a high-stakes game of corporate ownership, rather than as a question of what helps the news-consuming public.
“This is yet another example of the fundamental flaws with origins in decades of policy decisions,” noted Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Penn.
The debate about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a larger point.
“It is often framed as a business story with powerful individuals as the central actors, but there is very little discussion of the common good,” Pickard explained.
The Complicating Factor: Donald Trump
This situation is complicated by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his main “fake news” foe.
Think back to the cries of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his administration’s punitive revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in White House briefings.
Trump now claims that the network requires new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will insulate him from journalistic oversight. That is part of why he seems to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.
Trump has reason to prefer that suitor more. For one thing, it is controlled by David Ellison, son of the pro-Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
The company, parent of CBS News, also recently appointed the conservative Bari Weiss, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that historic news network.
A Possibility of Further Turmoil
Notably, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a standalone company. That would be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a secure position. That setup could position CNN for yet another acquisition. There is no finish line.
In the view of Timothy Wu, a lot of this is against the law, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance recently argued that anti-trust laws should prohibit both deals.
“Each proposed deal would be detrimental to the country, and both should be contested by anti-trust authorities,” Wu recently wrote.
The Core Issue and a Potential Solution
Whatever happens regarding CNN, the bigger problem endures.
“What we have now is a very structure that undermines democracy, but we shouldn’t give in to the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard noted. Regulatory choices – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this hyper-commercialized monster, and different policy decisions can tackle it.
Can reform occur in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Overhaul is very unlikely now, but that should not imply it will never happen.
Measures that support independent news organizations, aid local journalism, subsidize public media, and prevent the concentration of media power in very few hands are not only possible – they are necessary for a functioning democracy.
Regarding media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations such as CNN shouldn’t be pawns in the most recent corporate chess match.
