Late Thursday, while unconfirmed reports spread regarding an incident at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins took to social media, noting the confusion and pointing viewers to her network’s 9pm newscast.
While CNN is certainly not a impeccable news source, her words rang true to many. It is one of the outlets where there exists reality-based and mostly dependable reporting – especially during breaking news situations like the one developing near a New Hampshire storage facility.
An Uncertain Position During a High-Stakes Battle
However CNN, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a precarious position as two huge media empires battle over ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
Regardless of who wins, the destiny of CNN has been drawn into a high-stakes game of corporate ownership, not as a question of what helps the information-seeking public.
“This is yet another example of the fundamental flaws with origins in decades of policy decisions,” said Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the University of Pennsylvania.
The speculation about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – could it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a larger point.
“It gets presented as a corporate drama with key players as the protagonists, but there is very little discussion of the common good,” Pickard added.
A Further Layer: Donald Trump
The network's predicament is made more complex by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his chief “fake news” foe.
Recall the cries of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his administration's retaliatory revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in press briefings.
Trump now says that the network requires new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will insulate him from negative coverage and examination. That is part of why he seems to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.
He has grounds to like that company more. For one thing, it is run by David Ellison, son of the Trump-friendly Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
The company, owner of CBS News, also recently appointed the conservative Bari Weiss, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that historic news network.
A Possibility of Further Turmoil
Notably, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a independent unit. This might be a relief to many at the network, but it’s far from a guarantee of stability. That setup could pave the way for CNN for a future sale. The cycle continues.
According to Timothy Wu, a lot of this is against the law, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that anti-trust laws should prohibit both deals.
“Both acquisition attempts would be detrimental to the country, and both should be contested by anti-trust authorities,” Wu argued.
The Bigger Issue and a Potential Solution
Whatever happens with this particular battle, the underlying crisis persists.
“The present media landscape is a highly system hostile to democracy, but we shouldn’t give in to the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard noted. Government actions – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this hyper-commercialized monster, and different policy decisions can address it.
Will that happen in an era where the head of the FCC won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Change is a distant prospect now, but that doesn’t mean it will not happen in the future.
Measures that bolster independent news organizations, aid local journalism, finance public media, and prevent the accumulation of media power in very few hands are within reach – they are vital for a robust democracy.
Regarding media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations like CNN must not be tools in the most recent corporate chess match.
