🔗 Share this article

Late Thursday, amid swirling speculation about the Brown University gunman, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, noting the confusion and pointing viewers to her channel's 9pm newscast.

Even though it is by no means a flawless news source, her statement seemed accurate for numerous observers. It stands as one of the broadcasters where there exists reality-based and generally reliable reporting – particularly during breaking news situations like the one developing near a New Hampshire storage facility.

An Uncertain State Amid a Corporate Struggle

Yet the news network, now 45 years old, finds itself in a uncertain situation as two huge media corporations battle over ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.

Whatever the outcome, the destiny of CNN has become part of a high-risk game of mergers and acquisitions, not as a question of what serves the information-seeking public.

“Here is one more case of the fundamental flaws with roots in decades of governmental choices,” stated 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? – overlooks a larger point.

“It is often framed as a corporate drama with powerful individuals as the main characters, but there is hardly any discussion of the common good,” Pickard explained.

The Additional Factor: Donald Trump

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

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

Trump now claims that the network requires new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will shield him from journalistic oversight. That is one reason why he appears to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.

There is a basis to prefer that bidder more. For one thing, it is run 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 right-leaning Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that storied news network.

A Future of Further Instability

It is important to note, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a independent unit. Such a move could be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s hardly a safe harbor. That structure could pave the way for CNN for yet another acquisition. The cycle continues.

According to Timothy Wu, a lot of this is illegal, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance recently argued that anti-trust laws should prohibit both deals.

“Each proposed deal would be detrimental to the country, and both should be opposed by regulators,” Wu recently wrote.

The Core Problem and a Path Forward

Regardless of the resolution in this situation, the bigger problem persists.

“What we have now is a highly structure that undermines democracy, but we must resist learned helplessness,” Pickard noted. Regulatory choices – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this profit-obsessed monster, and revised policy decisions can tackle it.

Can reform occur in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Overhaul is very unlikely now, but that should not imply it will be impossible forever.

Measures that support independent news organizations, aid local journalism, fund public media, and prohibit the concentration of media power in very few hands are within reach – they are vital for a robust democracy.

In the world of media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations like CNN must not be pawns in the most recent acquisition battle.