On Thursday evening, while unconfirmed reports spread about an incident at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins used social media, noting the confusion and pointing viewers to her channel's 9pm newscast.
Even though the network is hardly a flawless news source, her words rang true to many. It is one of the outlets where there exists reality-based and generally dependable reporting – notably during breaking news situations such as the one unfolding in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Vulnerable State During a High-Stakes Battle
However CNN, now middle-aged, finds itself in a uncertain situation as two massive media conglomerates battle over ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
No matter the result, the fate of CNN has turned into a high-stakes game of mergers and acquisitions, not as a question of what serves the information-seeking public.
“Here is one more case of the deep structural problems with roots in decades of regulatory actions,” said Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Penn.
The debate about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a broader point.
“It is often framed as a corporate drama with key players as the main characters, but there is hardly any discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard said.
A Further Factor: Political Influence
The CNN scenario is made more complex by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his main “fake news” adversary.
Remember the cries of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his team's disciplinary suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in press briefings.
Trump now claims that the network requires new ownership. Many see this as a desire for ownership that will protect him from criticism and scrutiny. That is one reason why he appears to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.
There is a basis to favor that bidder 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, owner of CBS News, also recently appointed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that storied news network.
A Possibility of More Turmoil
Significantly, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a standalone company. Such a move could be a relief to many at the network, but it’s hardly a secure position. That structure could pave the way for CNN for yet another acquisition. It never ends.
In the view of Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that anti-trust laws should disallow both deals.
“Either merger would be bad for the country, and both should be opposed by anti-trust authorities,” Wu recently wrote.
The Bigger Challenge and a Path Forward
Regardless of the resolution with this particular battle, the larger issue endures.
“The present media landscape is a very anti-democratic system, but we shouldn’t give in to a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard said. Regulatory choices – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this profit-obsessed monster, and new policy decisions can tackle it.
Can reform occur in an era where the head of the FCC won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Change is highly improbable now, but that is not to say it will not happen in the future.
Policies that strengthen independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, finance public media, and prevent the accumulation of media power in a handful of hands are not only possible – they are essential for a functioning democracy.
In the world of media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations like CNN cannot be pawns in the most recent acquisition battle.
