Late Thursday, while unconfirmed reports spread concerning the Brown University gunman, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, pointing out the conflicting information and directing people to her channel's 9pm newscast.
While the network is hardly a flawless news source, her message resonated for a lot of people. It remains one of the outlets where one can locate fact-based and mostly trustworthy reporting – particularly during breaking news situations such as the one taking place near a New Hampshire storage facility.
An Uncertain Situation During a Business Struggle
But the news network, now 45 years old, finds itself in a precarious situation as two huge media empires compete for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
No matter the result, the fate of CNN has turned into a high-stakes game of business acquisition, instead of as a question of what helps the news-consuming public.
“Here is one more case of the profound systemic issues with roots in decades of governmental choices,” said Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the University of Pennsylvania.
The conjecture about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – could it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a more important point.
“The narrative is crafted as a business story with influential figures as the central actors, but there is hardly any discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard added.
The Additional Element: Donald Trump
The network's predicament is further muddied by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his main “fake news” antagonist.
Recall the chants of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his team's disciplinary revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in official meetings.
Trump now says that CNN needs new ownership. Many see this as a desire for ownership that will shield him from criticism and scrutiny. That is part of why he appears to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.
He has grounds to prefer that company 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 conservative Bari Weiss, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that historic news network.
An Outcome of Continued Instability
Significantly, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a independent unit. That would be a relief to many at the network, but it’s far from a safe harbor. That setup 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 wrote recently that competition laws should disallow both deals.
“Each proposed deal would be detrimental to the country, and both should be opposed by the government,” Wu argued.
The Bigger Problem and a Potential Solution
No matter the outcome with this particular battle, the bigger problem persists.
“What we have now is a profoundly anti-democratic system, but we must resist the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard emphasized. Government actions – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this hyper-commercialized monster, and revised policy decisions can address it.
Can reform occur in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Reform is highly improbable now, but that should not imply it will not happen in the future.
Measures that strengthen independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, subsidize public media, and outlaw the concentration of media power in very few hands are within reach – they are vital for a healthy democracy.
When it comes to media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations like CNN must not be tools in the newest acquisition battle.
