Late Thursday, as rumors swirled regarding the Brown University gunman, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins took to social media, noting the confusion and directing people to her channel's 9pm newscast.
Although the network is hardly a impeccable news source, her message rang true for numerous observers. It stands as one of the outlets where there exists fact-based and largely reliable reporting – especially during breaking news situations like the one taking place close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
An Uncertain Situation During a Business Struggle
But the news network, now middle-aged, finds itself in a uncertain situation as two massive media empires battle over ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Regardless of who wins, the future of CNN has turned into a high-risk game of mergers and acquisitions, rather than as a question of what helps the news-consuming public.
“Here is one more case of the profound systemic issues with roots in many years of policy decisions,” said Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy 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 is often framed as a corporate drama with powerful individuals as the protagonists, but there is scant discussion of the common good,” Pickard said.
A Further Factor: Donald Trump
This situation is further muddied by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his main “fake news” adversary.
Recall the chants of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his administration's retaliatory revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in official meetings.
Trump now asserts that CNN needs new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will protect him from journalistic oversight. That is part of why he appears to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
There is a basis to like that company more. For one thing, it is run by David Ellison, son of the Trump-friendly Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
The company, owner of CBS News, also recently installed the conservative Bari Weiss, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that storied news network.
A Possibility of Continued Turmoil
Significantly, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a standalone company. That would be a relief to many at the network, but it’s hardly a safe harbor. That arrangement could position CNN for yet another acquisition. It never ends.
According to Timothy Wu, much of this is against the law, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that competition laws should disallow both deals.
“Both acquisition attempts would be bad for the country, and both should be opposed by anti-trust authorities,” Wu recently wrote.
The Fundamental Issue and a Potential Solution
Regardless of the resolution regarding CNN, the underlying crisis remains.
“The present media landscape is a highly system hostile to democracy, but we ought not succumb to a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard noted. Policy decisions – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this hyper-commercialized monster, and different policy decisions can address it.
Will that happen in an era where the top communications regulator won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Reform is highly improbable now, but that doesn’t mean it will never happen.
Initiatives that strengthen independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, fund public media, and prevent the concentration of media power in too few hands are achievable – they are vital for a functioning democracy.
Regarding media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations such as CNN shouldn’t be pieces in the newest merger game.
