🔗 Share this article

This past Thursday night, as rumors swirled about an incident at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins took to social media, pointing out the conflicting information and directing people to her channel's 9pm newscast.

While the network is hardly a impeccable news source, her words rang true for numerous observers. It stands as one of the broadcasters where one can locate grounded and mostly reliable reporting – particularly during crises such as the one unfolding close to a New Hampshire storage facility.

A Precarious Situation During a Corporate Struggle

However CNN, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a uncertain situation as two giant media empires vie for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.

No matter the result, the future of CNN has turned into a high-stakes game of corporate ownership, instead of as a question of what serves the news-consuming public.

“This represents another instance of the deep structural problems with roots in decades of governmental choices,” said Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the University of Pennsylvania.

The debate about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – could it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a broader point.

“It gets presented as a corporate drama with influential figures as the central actors, but there is scant discussion of the public interest,” Pickard added.

A Further Factor: Donald Trump

The CNN scenario is further muddied by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his main “fake news” adversary.

Recall the chants of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his administration’s punitive withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his clashes with Collins in official meetings.

Trump now says that CNN needs new ownership. Many see this as a desire for ownership that will protect him from negative coverage and examination. That is a factor in why he appears to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.

Trump has reason to like that company more. For one thing, it is led by David Ellison, son of the pro-Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.

Paramount, parent of CBS News, also recently appointed the conservative Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that storied news network.

A Future of Further Uncertainty

It is important to note, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a independent unit. This might be a relief to many at the network, but it’s hardly a secure position. That setup could set up CNN for yet another acquisition. There is no finish line.

According to Timothy Wu, a lot of this is against the law, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that anti-trust laws should prohibit both deals.

“Either merger would be detrimental to the country, and both should be challenged by regulators,” Wu recently wrote.

The Fundamental Problem and a Way Ahead

Regardless of the resolution regarding CNN, the bigger problem remains.

“The present media landscape is a profoundly system hostile to democracy, but we ought not succumb to a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard emphasized. Government actions – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this profit-obsessed monster, and revised policy decisions can address it.

Will that happen in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Reform is a distant prospect now, but that is not to say it will never happen.

Policies that strengthen independent news organizations, aid local journalism, finance public media, and prohibit the consolidation of media power in too few hands are not only possible – they are essential for a healthy democracy.

Regarding media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations including CNN must not be pieces in the newest acquisition battle.