This past Thursday night, amid swirling speculation regarding the Brown University gunman, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins took to social media, highlighting the uncertainty and directing people to her network’s 9pm newscast.
While it is by no means a flawless news source, her statement seemed accurate for numerous observers. It is one of the broadcasters where you can find grounded and generally reliable reporting – notably during breaking news situations such as the one unfolding in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Vulnerable Situation Amid a Business Battle
However CNN, now 45 years old, finds itself in a vulnerable situation as two giant media conglomerates compete for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the destiny of CNN has become part of a major game of corporate ownership, rather than as a question of what serves the news-consuming public.
“Here is one more case of the profound systemic issues with origins in decades of governmental choices,” stated Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy 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.
“It gets presented as a corporate drama with powerful individuals as the central actors, but there is scant discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard explained.
The Additional Factor: Political Influence
The CNN scenario is complicated by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his primary “fake news” antagonist.
Remember the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his administration’s punitive revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in official meetings.
Trump now says that the network requires new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will shield him from negative coverage and examination. That is a factor in why he seems to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.
He has grounds to favor that suitor more. For one thing, it is run by David Ellison, son of the pro-Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
Paramount, owner of CBS News, also recently appointed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that venerable news network.
A Possibility of Continued Uncertainty
Notably, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a standalone company. This might be a relief to many at the network, but it’s far from a safe harbor. That setup could set up CNN for a future sale. The cycle continues.
According to Timothy Wu, much of this is against the law, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance recently argued that competition laws should block both deals.
“Both acquisition attempts would be detrimental to the country, and both should be contested by regulators,” Wu stated.
The Bigger Issue and a Way Ahead
No matter the outcome with this particular battle, the bigger problem persists.
“What we have now is a highly anti-democratic system, but we ought not succumb to learned helplessness,” Pickard said. Policy decisions – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this hyper-commercialized monster, and revised policy decisions can tackle it.
Is this likely in an era where the head of the FCC will not confirm that the agency is independent? Reform is highly improbable now, but that should not imply it will never happen.
Initiatives that strengthen independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, subsidize public media, and prevent the consolidation of media power in very few hands are within reach – they are necessary for a robust democracy.
In the world of media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations like CNN must not be tools in the latest corporate chess match.
