Late Thursday, while unconfirmed reports spread concerning a shooting at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins took to social media, noting the confusion and directing people to her channel's 9pm newscast.
Even though CNN is certainly not a flawless news source, her message rang true for a lot of people. It stands as one of the outlets where one can locate grounded and generally reliable reporting – especially during crises like the one developing near a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious Position During a Corporate Battle
Yet the news network, now middle-aged, finds itself in a precarious position as two massive media conglomerates battle over ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
Regardless of who wins, the future of CNN has been drawn into a major game of mergers and acquisitions, instead of as a question of what helps the news-consuming public.
“This represents another instance of the profound systemic issues with origins in many years of governmental choices,” stated Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Pennsylvania University.
The speculation about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a more important point.
“It is often framed as a business story with key players as the main characters, but there is very little discussion of the common good,” Pickard explained.
The Complicating Element: Donald Trump
This situation is further muddied by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his primary “fake news” adversary.
Recall the cries of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his team's disciplinary suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in White House briefings.
Trump now says that CNN needs new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will insulate him from negative coverage and examination. That is part of why he appears to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.
There is a basis to favor that bidder more. For one thing, it is run by David Ellison, son of the ally of Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
The company, owner of CBS News, also recently placed the conservative Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that venerable news network.
A Possibility of Further Turmoil
It is important to note, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a independent unit. Such a move could be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s hardly a secure position. That structure could position CNN for another sale. The cycle continues.
According to Timothy Wu, much of this is against the law, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that anti-trust laws should prohibit both deals.
“Both acquisition attempts would be bad for the country, and both should be opposed by the government,” Wu recently wrote.
The Bigger Challenge and a Way Ahead
Regardless of the resolution with this particular battle, the larger issue endures.
“Our current system is a highly system hostile to democracy, but we ought not succumb to a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard noted. Policy decisions – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this profit-obsessed monster, and new policy decisions can address it.
Will that happen in an era where the top communications regulator refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Overhaul is a distant prospect now, but that should not imply it will never happen.
Measures that support independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, fund public media, and prohibit the concentration of media power in a handful of hands are achievable – they are necessary for a healthy democracy.
In the world of media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations such as CNN must not be pawns in the most recent merger game.
