Late Thursday, amid swirling speculation concerning the Brown University gunman, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins took to social media, highlighting the uncertainty and guiding the public to her network’s 9pm newscast.
While it is by no means a perfect news source, her statement seemed accurate for numerous observers. It remains one of the organizations where you can find reality-based and largely dependable reporting – especially during fast-moving events such as the one taking place in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.
An Uncertain State During a High-Stakes Tug-of-War
But CNN, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a uncertain state as two massive media empires battle over ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the future of CNN has turned into a major game of mergers and acquisitions, rather than as a question of what helps the information-seeking public.
“This represents another instance of the profound systemic issues with origins in many years of regulatory actions,” stated Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Penn.
The debate about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a broader point.
“It gets presented as a financial tale with influential figures as the main characters, but there is scant discussion of the common good,” Pickard explained.
The Complicating Layer: The Former President
The network's predicament is further muddied by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his chief “fake news” antagonist.
Remember the cries of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his administration's retaliatory suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in official meetings.
Trump now claims that the network requires new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will protect him from negative coverage and examination. That is a factor in why he appears to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.
There is a basis to favor that bidder more. For one thing, it is controlled by David Ellison, son of the pro-Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
Paramount, owner of CBS News, also recently installed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that storied news network.
An Outcome of Further Instability
Notably, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a standalone company. That would be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a secure position. That structure could set up CNN for yet another acquisition. The cycle continues.
If you ask Timothy Wu, much of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance recently argued that competition laws should disallow both deals.
“Both acquisition attempts would be harmful to the country, and both should be challenged by regulators,” Wu argued.
The Fundamental Problem and a Way Ahead
Whatever happens regarding CNN, the bigger problem endures.
“What we have now is a highly system hostile to democracy, but we must resist a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard emphasized. Regulatory choices – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this hyper-commercialized monster, and different policy decisions can address it.
Will that happen in an era where the head of the FCC won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Reform is highly improbable now, but that is not to say it will never happen.
Measures that strengthen independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, finance public media, and prohibit the accumulation of media power in a handful of hands are achievable – they are vital for a healthy democracy.
Regarding media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations such as CNN cannot be pieces in the newest merger game.
