This past Thursday night, as rumors swirled concerning an incident at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins used social media, pointing out the conflicting information and guiding the public to her channel's 9pm newscast.
Even though the network is hardly a perfect news source, her words rang true for a lot of people. It stands as one of the outlets where there exists fact-based and mostly trustworthy reporting – especially during breaking news situations like the one developing in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.
An Uncertain Situation During a High-Stakes Battle
Yet the news network, now middle-aged, finds itself in a uncertain position as two giant media empires battle over ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
Regardless of who wins, the destiny of CNN has turned into a high-risk game of corporate ownership, not as a question of what benefits the information-seeking public.
“Here is one more case of the fundamental flaws with origins in many years of policy decisions,” said Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Pennsylvania University.
The conjecture about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a larger point.
“It gets presented as a business story with influential figures as the central actors, but there is scant discussion of the public interest,” Pickard added.
The Additional Layer: Donald Trump
This situation is complicated by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his primary “fake news” foe.
Remember the cries of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his team's disciplinary suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his clashes with Collins in official meetings.
Trump now says that CNN needs new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will insulate him from journalistic oversight. That is a factor in why he appears to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
He has grounds to like 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.
The company, owner of CBS News, also recently appointed the conservative Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that storied news network.
A Possibility of Further Uncertainty
It is important to note, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a standalone company. Such a move could be a relief to many at the network, but it’s far from a secure position. That setup could pave the way for CNN for yet another acquisition. There is no finish line.
According to Timothy Wu, a lot of this is illegal, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that competition laws should block both deals.
“Either merger would be harmful to the country, and both should be challenged by anti-trust authorities,” Wu stated.
The Bigger Problem and a Way Ahead
No matter the outcome with this particular battle, the underlying crisis remains.
“Our current system is a highly structure that undermines democracy, but we must resist learned helplessness,” Pickard emphasized. Government actions – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this hyper-commercialized monster, and new policy decisions can tackle it.
Will that happen in an era where the top communications regulator refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Reform is a distant prospect now, but that is not to say it will not happen in the future.
Measures that support independent news organizations, aid local journalism, finance public media, and prevent the consolidation of media power in a handful of hands are not only possible – they are essential for a robust democracy.
In the world of media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations such as CNN cannot be pieces in the most recent corporate chess match.
