Late Thursday, while unconfirmed reports spread about the Brown University gunman, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins took to social media, pointing out the conflicting information and directing people to her channel's 9pm newscast.
Even though it is by no means a flawless news source, her words rang true to many. It is one of the organizations where you can find fact-based and largely trustworthy reporting – particularly during fast-moving events such as the one developing near a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Vulnerable State Amid a Corporate Tug-of-War
Yet the news network, now 45 years old, finds itself in a uncertain state as two giant media empires compete for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the destiny of CNN has become part of a major game of corporate ownership, instead of as a question of what benefits the information-seeking public.
“This is yet another example of the deep structural problems with roots in decades of governmental choices,” stated Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy at the Pennsylvania University.
The conjecture about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a broader point.
“It gets presented as a corporate drama with key players as the protagonists, but there is very little discussion of the public interest,” Pickard explained.
The Complicating Layer: Political Influence
The CNN scenario is further muddied by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his chief “fake news” antagonist.
Remember the chants of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his administration’s punitive revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his clashes with Collins in press briefings.
Trump now claims that the network requires new ownership. Many see this as a desire for ownership that will protect him from journalistic oversight. That is one reason why he appears to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.
He has grounds to prefer that suitor more. For one thing, it is led by David Ellison, son of the ally of Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
Paramount, owner of CBS News, also recently placed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that historic news network.
A Future of More Instability
It is important to note, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a separate entity. This might be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a secure position. That structure could pave the way for CNN for another sale. There is no finish line.
If you ask Timothy Wu, much of this is illegal, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that anti-trust laws should block both deals.
“Each proposed deal would be detrimental to the country, and both should be contested by anti-trust authorities,” Wu recently wrote.
The Fundamental Challenge and a Way Ahead
Whatever happens regarding CNN, the larger issue endures.
“The present media landscape is a profoundly system hostile to democracy, but we ought not succumb to a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard said. Regulatory choices – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this overly commercial monster, and different policy decisions can fix it.
Is this likely in an era where the top communications regulator refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Change is very unlikely now, but that doesn’t mean it will not happen in the future.
Policies that bolster independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, subsidize public media, and prohibit the accumulation of media power in too few hands are within reach – they are vital for a healthy democracy.
In the world of media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations such as CNN cannot be pieces in the latest corporate chess match.
