Late Thursday, amid swirling speculation concerning an incident at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins took to social media, highlighting the uncertainty and guiding the public to her network’s 9pm newscast.
Even though it is by no means a flawless news source, her words seemed accurate to many. It stands as one of the broadcasters where you can find grounded and largely dependable reporting – especially during fast-moving events such as the one developing in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.
An Uncertain State During a Business Tug-of-War
But the news network, now middle-aged, finds itself in a vulnerable situation as two giant media empires compete for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Regardless of who wins, the future of CNN has become part of a major game of mergers and acquisitions, instead of as a question of what helps the information-seeking public.
“This represents another instance of the fundamental flaws with roots in many years of regulatory actions,” said Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy at the University of Pennsylvania.
The conjecture about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a more important point.
“The narrative is crafted as a business story with powerful individuals as the protagonists, but there is hardly any discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard added.
A Further Layer: Donald Trump
The network's predicament is complicated by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his primary “fake news” foe.
Recall the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his team's disciplinary withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his clashes with Collins in press briefings.
Trump now asserts that CNN needs new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will protect him from journalistic oversight. That is part of why he seems to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.
Trump has reason to like that company more. For one thing, it is controlled by David Ellison, son of the Trump-friendly Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
Paramount, owner of CBS News, also recently placed the conservative Bari Weiss, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that venerable news network.
An Outcome of Continued Uncertainty
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 not exactly a secure position. That arrangement could pave the way for CNN for a future sale. The cycle continues.
According to Timothy Wu, a lot of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance stated that anti-trust laws should block both deals.
“Both acquisition attempts would be bad for the country, and both should be challenged by the government,” Wu recently wrote.
The Fundamental Issue and a Path Forward
Whatever happens in this situation, the bigger problem remains.
“The present media landscape is a highly structure that undermines democracy, but we ought not succumb to learned helplessness,” Pickard noted. Government actions – from 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 will not confirm that the agency is independent? Change is a distant prospect now, but that should not imply it will not happen in the future.
Measures that support independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, fund public media, and prohibit the consolidation of media power in a handful of hands are not only possible – they are essential for a healthy democracy.
Regarding media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations like CNN cannot be pawns in the newest acquisition battle.
