This Tug-of-War Over CNN Highlights The Extent to Which Dysfunctional American Journalism Has Become.
On Thursday evening, amid swirling speculation about a shooting at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, pointing out the conflicting information and guiding the public to her network’s 9pm newscast.
Although CNN is certainly not a perfect news source, her words rang true for numerous observers. It stands as one of the outlets where you can find reality-based and mostly trustworthy reporting – notably during crises such as the one developing close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Vulnerable Position Amid a Corporate Struggle
But CNN, now middle-aged, finds itself in a vulnerable position as two massive media conglomerates battle over ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Regardless of who wins, the future of CNN has become part of a high-risk game of corporate ownership, instead of as a question of what helps the news-consuming public.
“Here is one more case of the deep structural problems with origins in many years of policy decisions,” said Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy 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 gets presented as a corporate drama with powerful individuals as the central actors, but there is hardly any discussion of the common good,” Pickard said.
The Complicating Factor: Political Influence
The CNN scenario is made more complex by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his chief “fake news” antagonist.
Remember the chants of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his administration's retaliatory withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his clashes with Collins in White House briefings.
Trump now says that CNN needs new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will insulate him from criticism and scrutiny. That is one reason why he seems to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
He has grounds to like that bidder more. For one thing, it is led by David Ellison, son of the ally of Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
The company, parent of CBS News, also recently placed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that historic news network.
A Future of Further Turmoil
Significantly, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a independent unit. Such a move could be a relief to many at the network, but it’s far from a guarantee of stability. That setup could position CNN for another sale. It never ends.
If you ask Timothy Wu, a lot of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance stated that anti-trust laws should block both deals.
“Each proposed deal would be harmful to the country, and both should be contested by regulators,” Wu recently wrote.
The Bigger Problem and a Path Forward
Whatever happens regarding CNN, the bigger problem remains.
“What we have now is a profoundly system hostile to democracy, but we shouldn’t give in to a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard noted. Policy decisions – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this hyper-commercialized monster, and revised policy decisions can fix it.
Can reform occur in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Overhaul is a distant prospect now, but that is not to say it will never happen.
Measures that support independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, finance public media, and outlaw the accumulation of media power in very few hands are achievable – they are vital for a robust democracy.
In the world of media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations like CNN cannot be pieces in the latest acquisition battle.
