This past Thursday night, amid swirling speculation about an incident at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins took to social media, noting the confusion and directing people to her channel's 9pm newscast.
Although CNN is certainly not a impeccable news source, her message resonated for a lot of people. It is one of the outlets where you can find fact-based and generally trustworthy reporting – particularly during fast-moving events such as the one developing in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Vulnerable State Amid a High-Stakes Tug-of-War
But the news network, now middle-aged, finds itself in a uncertain state as two huge media conglomerates vie for ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the future of CNN has turned into a high-risk game of mergers and acquisitions, not as a question of what benefits the news-consuming public.
“This represents another instance of the fundamental flaws with origins in many years of regulatory actions,” noted Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the University of Pennsylvania.
The conjecture about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – could it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a more important point.
“It is often framed as a corporate drama with powerful individuals as the main characters, but there is hardly any discussion of the common good,” Pickard said.
The Additional Layer: Donald Trump
The CNN scenario is made more complex by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his main “fake news” adversary.
Think back to the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his team's disciplinary revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his clashes with Collins in official meetings.
Trump now claims that the network requires new ownership. Many see this as a desire for ownership that will insulate him from journalistic oversight. 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 prefer that suitor more. For one thing, it is run by David Ellison, son of the Trump-friendly Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
Paramount, owner of CBS News, also recently appointed the conservative Bari Weiss, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that historic news network.
A Possibility of Continued Turmoil
Significantly, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a separate entity. Such a move could 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.
If you ask Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is against the law, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that competition laws should disallow both deals.
“Each proposed deal would be harmful to the country, and both should be contested by regulators,” Wu stated.
The Core Issue and a Path Forward
Whatever happens regarding CNN, the bigger problem persists.
“The present media landscape is a profoundly system hostile to democracy, but we shouldn’t give in to a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard said. Regulatory choices – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this overly commercial monster, and revised policy decisions can address it.
Can reform occur in an era where the top communications regulator refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Overhaul is highly improbable now, but that doesn’t mean it will not happen in the future.
Policies that bolster independent news organizations, aid local journalism, finance public media, and outlaw the consolidation of media power in too few hands are achievable – they are vital for a healthy democracy.
Regarding media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations like CNN must not be pieces in the latest merger game.
