Late Thursday, while unconfirmed reports spread about a shooting at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, noting the confusion and pointing viewers to her channel's 9pm newscast.
Even though CNN is certainly not a perfect news source, her words rang true for a lot of people. It is one of the broadcasters where there exists grounded and largely trustworthy reporting – especially during fast-moving events such as the one developing close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
An Uncertain Position During a High-Stakes Tug-of-War
However the news network, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a vulnerable situation as two giant media empires compete for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the destiny of CNN has been drawn into a high-stakes game of mergers and acquisitions, rather than as a question of what benefits the information-seeking public.
“This is yet another example of the profound systemic issues with origins in decades of regulatory actions,” said Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy at the Pennsylvania University.
The speculation about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a more important point.
“The narrative is crafted as a corporate drama with influential figures as the central actors, but there is scant discussion of the common good,” Pickard added.
A Further Layer: Political Influence
The network's predicament is made more complex by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his main “fake news” adversary.
Remember the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his administration's retaliatory revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in White House briefings.
Trump now asserts that the network requires new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will protect him from journalistic oversight. That is part of why he appears to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
There is a basis to prefer that bidder more. For one thing, it is controlled by David Ellison, son of the ally of Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
The company, owner of CBS News, also recently placed the conservative Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that venerable news network.
A Possibility of Further Instability
It is important to note, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a independent unit. Such a move could be a relief to many at the network, but it’s far from a guarantee of stability. That structure could pave the way for CNN for a future sale. It never ends.
According to Timothy Wu, much of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance stated that anti-trust laws should disallow both deals.
“Both acquisition attempts would be detrimental to the country, and both should be contested by anti-trust authorities,” Wu recently wrote.
The Core Problem and a Path Forward
No matter the outcome in this situation, the bigger problem remains.
“The present media landscape is a highly system hostile to democracy, but we must resist a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard said. Government actions – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this hyper-commercialized monster, and different policy decisions can address it.
Can reform occur in an era where the top communications regulator will not confirm that the agency is independent? Change is very unlikely now, but that should not imply it will not happen in the future.
Initiatives that bolster independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, finance public media, and outlaw the concentration of media power in a handful of hands are within reach – they are vital for a robust democracy.
Regarding media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations such as CNN shouldn’t be tools in the most recent merger game.
