On Thursday evening, 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.
While CNN is certainly not a perfect news source, her message seemed accurate for numerous observers. It remains one of the organizations where you can find reality-based and mostly reliable reporting – especially during breaking news situations such as the one developing close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
An Uncertain Situation Amid a Corporate Struggle
However CNN, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a uncertain position as two giant media corporations vie for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
No matter the result, the destiny of CNN has turned into a high-stakes game of corporate ownership, instead of as a question of what benefits the news-consuming public.
“This represents another instance of the deep structural problems with roots in many years of regulatory actions,” said Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy at the University of Pennsylvania.
The conjecture about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a broader point.
“It is often framed as a business story with influential figures as the protagonists, but there is hardly any discussion of the common good,” Pickard explained.
A Further Element: Political Influence
The CNN scenario is further muddied by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his primary “fake news” foe.
Recall the chants of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his administration’s punitive suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in White House briefings.
Trump now asserts that CNN needs new ownership. Many see this as a desire for ownership that will insulate him from negative coverage and examination. That is a factor in why he appears to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.
He has grounds to prefer that suitor more. For one thing, it is led 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 appointed the conservative Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that storied news network.
An Outcome of Continued Turmoil
Significantly, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a separate entity. Such a move could be a relief to many at the network, but it’s hardly a secure position. That arrangement could set up CNN for another sale. It never ends.
If you ask Timothy Wu, a lot of this is illegal, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that anti-trust laws should prohibit both deals.
“Either merger would be detrimental to the country, and both should be opposed by anti-trust authorities,” Wu recently wrote.
The Core Issue and a Path Forward
Whatever happens in this situation, the underlying crisis endures.
“What we have now is a profoundly anti-democratic system, but we must resist a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard said. Policy decisions – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this overly commercial monster, and new policy decisions can address it.
Is this likely in an era where the head of the FCC won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Overhaul is highly improbable now, but that is not to say it will not happen in the future.
Measures that support independent news organizations, aid local journalism, finance public media, and outlaw the consolidation of media power in too few hands are not only possible – they are essential for a functioning democracy.
Regarding media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations like CNN cannot be tools in the most recent acquisition battle.
