On Thursday evening, while unconfirmed reports spread about an incident at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins used social media, highlighting the uncertainty and guiding the public to her network’s 9pm newscast.
While the network is hardly a flawless news source, her message rang true to many. It stands as one of the broadcasters where you can find reality-based and largely trustworthy reporting – particularly during crises like the one developing in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Vulnerable Position Amid a Corporate Struggle
But the news network, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a vulnerable state as two massive media corporations 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 represents another instance of the fundamental flaws with origins in many years of regulatory actions,” stated Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the Pennsylvania University.
The conjecture about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – could it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a more important point.
“The narrative is crafted as a corporate drama with powerful individuals as the protagonists, but there is scant discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard explained.
The Complicating Layer: The Former President
The network's predicament is complicated by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his primary “fake news” adversary.
Remember the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his administration's retaliatory revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in White House briefings.
Trump now claims that the network requires new ownership. Many see this as a desire for ownership that will shield him from negative coverage and examination. That is one reason why he appears to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
There is a basis to like 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, parent of CBS News, also recently installed the conservative Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that venerable news network.
A Possibility of More Instability
Notably, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a independent unit. Such a move could be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a safe harbor. That setup could position CNN for another sale. The cycle continues.
According to Timothy Wu, a lot of this is against the law, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance stated that anti-trust laws should block both deals.
“Each proposed deal would be bad for the country, and both should be contested by regulators,” Wu stated.
The Core Issue and a Way Ahead
No matter the outcome regarding CNN, the underlying crisis endures.
“What we have now is a highly structure that undermines democracy, but we ought not succumb to learned helplessness,” Pickard emphasized. Policy decisions – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this profit-obsessed monster, and different policy decisions can address it.
Can reform occur in an era where the top communications regulator won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Reform is very unlikely now, but that is not to say it will never happen.
Policies that support independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, subsidize public media, and prevent the concentration of media power in a handful of hands are not only possible – they are vital for a healthy democracy.
In the world of media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations including CNN must not be tools in the newest merger game.
