The Corporate Battle For CNN Highlights The Extent to Which Flawed American Journalism Has Become.
This past Thursday night, amid swirling speculation concerning the Brown University gunman, the network's Kaitlan Collins took to social media, noting the confusion and guiding the public to her network’s 9pm newscast.
Even though the network is hardly a perfect news source, her words resonated for numerous observers. It is one of the outlets where one can locate reality-based and generally trustworthy reporting – notably during fast-moving events such as the one taking place near a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Vulnerable Situation Amid a High-Stakes Struggle
However CNN, now 45 years old, finds itself in a precarious position as two massive media empires compete for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
No matter the result, the destiny of CNN has been drawn into a high-stakes game of corporate ownership, not as a question of what benefits the news-consuming public.
“This represents another instance of the deep structural problems with roots in many years of regulatory actions,” stated Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the University of Pennsylvania.
The debate about which company will control 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 main characters, but there is scant discussion of the public interest,” Pickard said.
The Additional Layer: The Former President
The CNN scenario is further muddied by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his primary “fake news” adversary.
Recall the chants of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his team's disciplinary withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his clashes with Collins in White House briefings.
Trump now asserts that CNN needs new ownership. Many see this as a desire for ownership that will protect him from journalistic oversight. That is a factor in why he seems to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.
Trump has reason 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.
Paramount, parent of CBS News, also recently appointed the conservative Bari Weiss, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that historic news network.
A Possibility of Continued Turmoil
It is important to note, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a standalone company. That would be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s hardly a guarantee of stability. That structure could set up CNN for yet another acquisition. The cycle continues.
In the view of Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is illegal, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance stated that competition laws should prohibit both deals.
“Each proposed deal would be bad for the country, and both should be contested by anti-trust authorities,” Wu argued.
The Core Challenge and a Potential Solution
Regardless of the resolution with this particular battle, the underlying crisis persists.
“The present media landscape is a highly structure that undermines democracy, but we must resist learned helplessness,” Pickard said. Government actions – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this hyper-commercialized monster, and new policy decisions can tackle it.
Will that happen in an era where the top communications regulator refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Overhaul is very unlikely now, but that is not to say it will not happen in the future.
Measures that strengthen independent news organizations, aid local journalism, fund public media, and outlaw the concentration of media power in a handful of hands are achievable – they are vital for a functioning democracy.
Regarding media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations such as CNN shouldn’t be pieces in the most recent corporate chess match.