On Thursday evening, amid swirling speculation regarding the Brown University gunman, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins used social media, highlighting the uncertainty and guiding the public to her network’s 9pm newscast.
Although the network is hardly a impeccable news source, her statement resonated for a lot of people. It remains one of the outlets where you can find reality-based and generally trustworthy reporting – especially during breaking news situations such as the one taking place in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Vulnerable Situation Amid a Business Struggle
However the news network, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a uncertain situation as two huge media conglomerates battle over ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
Regardless of who wins, the destiny of CNN has become part of a high-stakes game of business acquisition, instead of as a question of what benefits the information-seeking public.
“Here is one more case of the deep structural problems with roots in decades of governmental choices,” noted Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the Penn.
The conjecture about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – could it 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 very little discussion of the common good,” Pickard said.
The Additional Element: The Former President
The network's predicament is further muddied by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his chief “fake news” antagonist.
Recall the chants of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his team's disciplinary suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in White House briefings.
Trump now asserts that the network requires new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will insulate him from journalistic oversight. That is one reason why he appears to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
There is a basis to like that suitor more. For one thing, it is controlled by David Ellison, son of the pro-Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
The company, owner of CBS News, also recently installed the conservative Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that storied news network.
A Future of More Instability
It is important to note, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a separate entity. That would be a relief to many at the network, but it’s far from a secure position. That arrangement could set up CNN for yet another acquisition. The cycle continues.
If you ask Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is illegal, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance stated that anti-trust laws should prohibit both deals.
“Both acquisition attempts would be bad for the country, and both should be contested by anti-trust authorities,” Wu recently wrote.
The Bigger Problem and a Potential Solution
Whatever happens regarding CNN, the bigger problem endures.
“What we have now is a profoundly system hostile to democracy, but we must resist the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard noted. Policy decisions – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this hyper-commercialized monster, and different policy decisions can address it.
Can reform occur in an era where the head of the FCC will not confirm that the agency is independent? Overhaul is a distant prospect now, but that should not imply it will be impossible forever.
Policies that support independent news organizations, aid local journalism, fund public media, and prohibit the consolidation of media power in a handful of hands are not only possible – they are vital for a robust democracy.
In the world of media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations like CNN cannot be tools in the most recent merger game.
