This Tug-of-War Over the Cable News Network Shows The Extent to Which Broken US Media Has Become.
On Thursday evening, amid swirling speculation about an incident at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins took to social media, highlighting the uncertainty and pointing viewers to her network’s 9pm newscast.
Even though the network is hardly a perfect news source, her message rang true for a lot of people. It remains one of the outlets where one can locate grounded and largely trustworthy reporting – especially during breaking news situations like the one unfolding in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious State During a Business Battle
Yet CNN, now 45 years old, finds itself in a uncertain position as two massive media empires compete for ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
No matter the result, the future of CNN has become part of a high-stakes game of mergers and acquisitions, not as a question of what serves the information-seeking public.
“This represents another instance of the profound systemic issues with roots in many years of governmental choices,” noted Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Pennsylvania University.
The speculation about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a larger point.
“It gets presented as a business story with key players as the central actors, but there is hardly any discussion of the public interest,” Pickard added.
A Further Factor: Donald Trump
The network's predicament is further muddied by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his main “fake news” foe.
Remember the cries of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his administration's retaliatory revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his clashes with Collins in official meetings.
Trump now asserts 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 favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
He has grounds to like that suitor more. For one thing, it is run 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 venerable news network.
An Outcome of Further Turmoil
Notably, 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 not exactly a secure position. That structure could pave the way for CNN for a future sale. The cycle continues.
According to Timothy Wu, much of this is illegal, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance recently argued that anti-trust laws should block both deals.
“Either merger would be bad for the country, and both should be opposed by anti-trust authorities,” Wu argued.
The Fundamental Issue and a Way Ahead
Whatever happens in this situation, the larger issue endures.
“Our current system is a profoundly system hostile to democracy, but we ought not succumb to a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard emphasized. Policy decisions – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this profit-obsessed monster, and revised policy decisions can fix it.
Can reform occur in an era where the head of the FCC won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Reform is very unlikely now, but that is not to say it will be impossible forever.
Initiatives that strengthen independent news organizations, aid local journalism, finance public media, and prevent the consolidation of media power in too few hands are within reach – they are essential for a robust democracy.
When it comes to media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations like CNN cannot be pieces in the latest corporate chess match.
