🔗 Share this article

On Thursday evening, amid swirling speculation regarding the Brown University gunman, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins took to social media, noting the confusion and pointing viewers to her network’s 9pm newscast.

Although CNN is certainly not a perfect news source, her statement rang true to many. It is one of the organizations where you can find fact-based and generally reliable reporting – notably during fast-moving events like the one taking place close to a New Hampshire storage facility.

A Precarious State During a Corporate Battle

But CNN, now middle-aged, finds itself in a uncertain state as two massive media conglomerates compete for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.

Whatever the outcome, the future of CNN has become part of a high-stakes game of mergers and acquisitions, not as a question of what benefits the news-consuming public.

“This represents another instance of the profound systemic issues with roots in many years of regulatory actions,” stated Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the Penn.

The debate about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a larger point.

“It is often framed as a business story with influential figures as the central actors, but there is scant discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard added.

A Further Element: The Former President

This situation is complicated by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his chief “fake news” adversary.

Remember the cries 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 press briefings.

Trump now claims that CNN needs new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will protect him from journalistic oversight. That is part of why he appears to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.

He has grounds to favor that company more. For one thing, it is led by David Ellison, son of the Trump-friendly 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 lead editor of that historic news network.

A Possibility of More Instability

Notably, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a independent unit. This might be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s far from a secure position. That setup could pave the way for CNN for a future sale. The cycle continues.

If you ask Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance recently argued that competition laws should block both deals.

“Each proposed deal would be bad for the country, and both should be opposed by the government,” Wu argued.

The Fundamental Problem and a Way Ahead

Whatever happens in this situation, the underlying crisis remains.

“The present media landscape is a highly anti-democratic system, but we must resist learned helplessness,” Pickard noted. Government actions – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this profit-obsessed monster, and new policy decisions can address it.

Is this likely in an era where the top communications regulator won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Change is very unlikely now, but that is not to say it will not happen in the future.

Policies that bolster independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, finance public media, and prohibit the consolidation of media power in a handful of hands are within reach – they are necessary for a healthy democracy.

When it comes to media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations such as CNN shouldn’t be tools in the newest corporate chess match.