Late Thursday, as rumors swirled about the Brown University gunman, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins used social media, noting the confusion and guiding the public to her network’s 9pm newscast.
Although CNN is certainly not a impeccable news source, her words resonated to many. It remains one of the organizations where you can find fact-based and generally reliable reporting – especially during fast-moving events such as the one taking place in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Vulnerable Situation During a Business Struggle
But CNN, now 45 years old, finds itself in a precarious position as two huge media conglomerates compete for ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the destiny of CNN has turned into a high-stakes game of business acquisition, instead of as a question of what benefits the news-consuming public.
“This is yet another example of the profound systemic issues with origins in many years of regulatory actions,” noted Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Pennsylvania University.
The debate about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a broader point.
“The narrative is crafted as a corporate drama with influential figures as the main characters, but there is hardly any discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard said.
The Complicating Layer: Donald Trump
This situation is further muddied by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his main “fake news” antagonist.
Recall the chants of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his administration's retaliatory withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his clashes with Collins in press briefings.
Trump now claims that the network requires new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will shield him from criticism and scrutiny. That is a factor in why he appears to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.
There is a basis to favor that company more. For one thing, it is led by David Ellison, son of the pro-Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
Paramount, owner of CBS News, also recently installed the conservative Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that venerable news network.
A Possibility of Further Instability
It is important to note, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a standalone company. That would be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s hardly a secure position. That structure could position CNN for a future sale. There is no finish line.
If you ask Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is illegal, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance recently argued that anti-trust laws should prohibit both deals.
“Either merger would be bad for the country, and both should be contested by regulators,” Wu argued.
The Fundamental Problem and a Way Ahead
No matter the outcome in this situation, the underlying crisis endures.
“Our current system is a highly anti-democratic system, but we shouldn’t give in to learned helplessness,” Pickard emphasized. Policy decisions – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this overly commercial monster, and revised policy decisions can address it.
Will that happen in an era where the head of the FCC won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Change is a distant prospect now, but that is not to say it will be impossible forever.
Policies that strengthen independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, finance public media, and outlaw the concentration of media power in very few hands are achievable – they are essential for a functioning democracy.
In the world of media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations like CNN cannot be pieces in the most recent corporate chess match.
