On Thursday evening, while unconfirmed reports spread about the Brown University gunman, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins used social media, pointing out the conflicting information and directing people to her network’s 9pm newscast.
While CNN is certainly not a flawless news source, her statement resonated to many. It stands as one of the organizations where there exists reality-based and largely trustworthy reporting – especially during fast-moving events like the one developing in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious State Amid a High-Stakes Battle
But the news network, now middle-aged, finds itself in a vulnerable state as two massive media empires compete for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the future of CNN has turned into a major game of business acquisition, not as a question of what serves the news-consuming public.
“This represents another instance of the fundamental flaws with roots in decades of governmental choices,” said Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy at the Penn.
The speculation about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a broader point.
“It is often framed as a corporate drama with influential figures as the central actors, but there is scant discussion of the common good,” Pickard added.
The Additional Layer: Political Influence
The network's predicament is further muddied by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his primary “fake news” adversary.
Remember the cries of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his team's disciplinary withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in official meetings.
Trump now claims that CNN needs new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will shield him from journalistic oversight. That is part of why he seems to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.
He has grounds to like 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.
Paramount, parent of CBS News, also recently appointed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that historic news network.
A Future of Further Instability
Notably, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a independent unit. That would be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s far from a guarantee of stability. That arrangement could set up CNN for a future sale. It never ends.
If you ask Timothy Wu, a lot of this is illegal, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance recently argued that anti-trust laws should disallow both deals.
“Either merger would be harmful to the country, and both should be contested by regulators,” Wu stated.
The Bigger Problem and a Way Ahead
No matter the outcome in this situation, the bigger problem remains.
“Our current system is a highly anti-democratic system, but we shouldn’t give in to a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard noted. Government actions – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this profit-obsessed monster, and new policy decisions can address it.
Can reform occur in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair 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, fund public media, and prohibit the consolidation of media power in very few hands are not only possible – they are essential for a healthy democracy.
When it comes to media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations like CNN cannot be pawns in the most recent corporate chess match.
