On Thursday evening, as rumors swirled regarding an incident at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins took to social media, pointing out the conflicting information and directing people to her network’s 9pm newscast.
Although it is by no means a flawless news source, her message resonated for a lot of people. It is one of the organizations where one can locate reality-based and mostly trustworthy reporting – notably during fast-moving events such as the one unfolding in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.
An Uncertain Situation During a High-Stakes Struggle
But the news network, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a uncertain state as two massive media empires compete for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the future of CNN has become part of a major game of business acquisition, instead of as a question of what serves the news-consuming public.
“This is yet another example of the deep structural problems with origins in decades of policy decisions,” said Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the University of Pennsylvania.
The debate about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a broader point.
“The narrative is crafted as a business story with key players as the main characters, but there is scant discussion of the common good,” Pickard said.
A Further Element: The Former President
This situation is made more complex by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his main “fake news” antagonist.
Remember the chants of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his administration’s punitive 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 protect him from negative coverage and examination. That is one reason why he appears to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
He has grounds to like that company 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, parent of CBS News, also recently placed the conservative Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that storied news network.
An Outcome of Further Instability
Significantly, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a separate entity. That would be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s far from a secure position. That structure could set up CNN for a future sale. There is no finish line.
According to Timothy Wu, much of this is illegal, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance stated that anti-trust laws should block both deals.
“Either merger would be detrimental to the country, and both should be challenged by the government,” Wu recently wrote.
The Bigger Problem and a Potential Solution
Whatever happens regarding CNN, the underlying crisis persists.
“Our current system is a very system hostile to democracy, but we ought not succumb to the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard emphasized. Policy decisions – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this profit-obsessed monster, and revised policy decisions can address it.
Will that happen in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Overhaul is a distant prospect now, but that should not imply it will never happen.
Initiatives that strengthen independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, fund public media, and prevent the accumulation of media power in very few hands are within reach – they are vital for a functioning democracy.
In the world of media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations such as CNN shouldn’t be pieces in the most recent corporate chess match.
