🔗 Share this article

Late Thursday, while unconfirmed reports spread regarding an incident at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins took to social media, pointing out the conflicting information and directing people to her channel's 9pm newscast.

Although the network is hardly a impeccable news source, her statement rang true for a lot of people. It is one of the outlets where there exists fact-based and mostly reliable reporting – particularly during breaking news situations like the one unfolding in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.

An Uncertain State During a Corporate Struggle

However the news network, now middle-aged, finds itself in a vulnerable position as two massive media conglomerates vie for ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.

No matter the result, the future of CNN has been drawn into a major game of corporate ownership, not as a question of what helps the news-consuming public.

“This represents another instance of the fundamental flaws with roots in many years of governmental choices,” stated Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy at the Penn.

The conjecture about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a larger point.

“It gets presented as a financial tale with influential figures as the protagonists, but there is hardly any discussion of the public interest,” Pickard added.

The Complicating Factor: Political Influence

The CNN scenario is complicated by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his main “fake news” antagonist.

Recall the cries of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his administration’s punitive revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in White House briefings.

Trump now says that CNN needs new ownership. Many see this as a desire for ownership that will shield him from negative coverage and examination. That is a factor in why he appears to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.

He has grounds to prefer that suitor more. For one thing, it is controlled by David Ellison, son of the ally of Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.

Paramount, owner of CBS News, also recently appointed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that historic news network.

An Outcome of Further Turmoil

Significantly, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a standalone company. Such a move could be a relief to many at the network, but it’s far from a secure position. That setup could set up CNN for a future sale. There is no finish line.

In the view of Timothy Wu, much of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance recently argued that competition laws should disallow both deals.

“Either merger would be detrimental to the country, and both should be contested by anti-trust authorities,” Wu recently wrote.

The Fundamental Challenge and a Potential Solution

No matter the outcome in this situation, the larger issue remains.

“What we have now is a profoundly structure that undermines democracy, but we shouldn’t give in to a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard said. Government actions – dating back to 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 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 never happen.

Measures that strengthen independent news organizations, aid local journalism, finance public media, and prevent the concentration of media power in too few hands are not only possible – they are necessary for a robust democracy.

Regarding media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations like CNN shouldn’t be tools in the latest merger game.