Late Thursday, while unconfirmed reports spread concerning a shooting at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins used social media, pointing out the conflicting information and directing people to her channel's 9pm newscast.
While the network is hardly a impeccable news source, her message seemed accurate for a lot of people. It is one of the broadcasters where there exists reality-based and mostly dependable reporting – notably during fast-moving events such as the one unfolding close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Vulnerable State During a Business Tug-of-War
However the news network, now 45 years old, finds itself in a precarious position as two massive media empires vie for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the future of CNN has turned into a high-stakes game of business acquisition, not as a question of what benefits the news-consuming public.
“This represents another instance of the deep structural problems with origins in decades of policy decisions,” noted Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the Penn.
The conjecture about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – could it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a more important point.
“It is often framed as a financial tale with influential figures as the protagonists, but there is scant discussion of the public interest,” Pickard explained.
A Further Layer: Political Influence
The network's predicament is complicated by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his main “fake news” foe.
Remember the cries of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his administration's retaliatory suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in White House briefings.
Trump now claims that the network requires new ownership. Many see this as a desire for ownership that will shield him from criticism and scrutiny. That is one reason why he seems to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.
Trump has reason to prefer that company more. For one thing, it is controlled 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, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that historic news network.
A Future of Further Instability
It is important to note, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a separate entity. Such a move could be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a guarantee of stability. That setup could pave the way for CNN for yet another acquisition. 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 recently argued that competition laws should prohibit both deals.
“Either merger would be detrimental to the country, and both should be challenged by anti-trust authorities,” Wu recently wrote.
The Bigger Problem and a Potential Solution
No matter the outcome with this particular battle, the bigger problem persists.
“The present media landscape is a profoundly structure that undermines democracy, but we ought not succumb to a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard emphasized. Regulatory choices – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this overly commercial monster, and new policy decisions can fix it.
Will that happen in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Change is a distant prospect now, but that doesn’t mean it will be impossible forever.
Measures that support independent news organizations, aid local journalism, subsidize public media, and outlaw the concentration of media power in very few hands are not only possible – they are vital for a healthy democracy.
When it comes to media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations like CNN cannot be tools in the newest acquisition battle.
