On Thursday evening, amid swirling speculation concerning an incident at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, pointing out the conflicting information and guiding the public to her channel's 9pm newscast.
Even though CNN is certainly not a impeccable news source, her statement resonated to many. It is one of the broadcasters where you can find grounded and generally trustworthy reporting – notably during fast-moving events like the one taking place in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious Position Amid a Corporate Tug-of-War
Yet CNN, now 45 years old, finds itself in a vulnerable state as two huge media corporations battle over ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the fate of CNN has been drawn into a major game of corporate ownership, not as a question of what benefits the news-consuming public.
“Here is one more case of the deep structural problems with roots in many years of regulatory actions,” said Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Penn.
The conjecture about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – could it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a larger point.
“The narrative is crafted as a business story with key players as the protagonists, but there is hardly any discussion of the public interest,” Pickard explained.
The Complicating Factor: The Former President
The network's predicament is made more complex by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his primary “fake news” foe.
Recall the chants of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his administration’s punitive withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his clashes with Collins in White House briefings.
Trump now asserts that the network requires new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will shield him from criticism and scrutiny. That is one reason why he seems to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
He has grounds to prefer that company more. For one thing, it is led by David Ellison, son of the Trump-friendly Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
Paramount, owner of CBS News, also recently placed the conservative Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that historic news network.
A Possibility of Continued Instability
Significantly, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a separate entity. Such a move could be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s hardly a guarantee of stability. That setup could pave the way for CNN for a future sale. The cycle continues.
If you ask Timothy Wu, much of this is against the law, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance stated that competition laws should prohibit both deals.
“Both acquisition attempts would be detrimental to the country, and both should be opposed by the government,” Wu argued.
The Bigger Problem and a Way Ahead
No matter the outcome in this situation, the larger issue endures.
“Our current system is a very system hostile to democracy, but we shouldn’t give in to the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard emphasized. Regulatory choices – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this overly commercial monster, and revised policy decisions can fix it.
Is this likely in an era where the top communications regulator won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Overhaul is a distant prospect now, but that doesn’t mean it will not happen in the future.
Measures that strengthen independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, fund public media, and prevent the consolidation of media power in too few hands are not only possible – they are essential for a healthy democracy.
When it comes to media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations such as CNN must not be tools in the most recent corporate chess match.
