🔗 Share this article

On Thursday evening, as rumors swirled about a shooting at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, noting the confusion and directing people to her network’s 9pm newscast.

Even though the network is hardly a perfect news source, her words rang true for numerous observers. It remains one of the broadcasters where there exists reality-based and largely reliable reporting – notably during crises like the one unfolding near a New Hampshire storage facility.

An Uncertain Situation During a Business Battle

But CNN, now 45 years old, finds itself in a vulnerable state as two massive media empires battle over ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.

Regardless of who wins, the destiny of CNN has been drawn into a major game of corporate ownership, not as a question of what serves the information-seeking public.

“This is yet another example of the profound systemic issues with origins in decades of governmental choices,” noted Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy at the University of Pennsylvania.

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

“It is often framed as a financial tale with key players as the central actors, but there is very little discussion of the common good,” Pickard added.

The Complicating Layer: Donald Trump

This situation is complicated by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his chief “fake news” foe.

Remember 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 official meetings.

Trump now asserts that the network requires new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will shield him from criticism and scrutiny. That is one reason why he appears to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.

Trump has reason to like 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.

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

A Possibility of Further Turmoil

Notably, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a standalone company. That would be a relief to many at the network, but it’s hardly a secure position. That setup could pave the way for CNN for another sale. The cycle continues.

In the view of Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is against the law, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that anti-trust laws should block both deals.

“Either merger would be bad for the country, and both should be opposed by regulators,” Wu recently wrote.

The Core Problem and a Potential Solution

Whatever happens with this particular battle, the underlying crisis endures.

“Our current system is a highly structure that undermines democracy, but we ought not succumb to the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard noted. Policy decisions – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this hyper-commercialized monster, and revised policy decisions can address it.

Is this likely in an era where the head of the FCC refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Change is very unlikely now, but that should not imply it will never happen.

Initiatives that strengthen independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, finance public media, and prohibit the concentration of media power in very few hands are achievable – they are essential for a robust democracy.

Regarding media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations such as CNN must not be tools in the latest acquisition battle.