While CNN may get worse, MS NOW is getting better

We should worry about “media capture” that empowers the Trump regime

I’m increasingly worried about “media capture.”

That’s when rich people buy up mass-communication companies and use them to disinform the public and empower a strongman leader.

In the United States, the trend is disturbing.

Last month, the right-wing Murdoch family’s Fox Corp. announced plans to buy streaming TV platform Roku, which is used by 100 million American households. Also last month, the U.S. “Justice” Department fast-tracked the pro-Trump Ellison family’s bid to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery, parent company of CNN. The Ellisons have already gained a share of TikTok with Trump’s help and taken over CBS News, where they hired right-wing favorite Bari Weiss to promote pro-Trump disinformation.

Clearly, the Ellison family is pursuing media capture in collaboration with the regime.

Trump’s DOJ approved Ellison-owned Paramount’s bid to buy Warner Bros. Discovery, and thus take control of CNN, before its own staff had a chance to oppose the deal on antitrust grounds. State attorneys general and/or European regulators could still block the sale, but the smart money says the Ellisons’ takeover is a done deal.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is cheerleading for it. In March, he denounced “more fake news from CNN” and said, “The sooner David Ellison takes over that network, the better.”

So what would that mean for CNN’s coverage?

I predict a slow slide to the right. CNN reports sharply about Trump at times, and does a good job of running clips of his past statements to demonstrate his hypocrisy. But it generally stops short of the obvious sweeping conclusion that he’s building an authoritarian government. Journalists like Jim Acosta and John Harwood who were really hardnosed about Trump have left the network. Meanwhile, MAGA liar Scott Jennings remains on CNN’s payroll.

Some CNN journalists seem worried about the prospect of pro-Trump bias, especially if Bari Weiss’ role expands to cover CNN too. Scott Pelley was fired at CBS after accusing Weiss of “murdering ‘60 Minutes.’” He said she pressured the program to make Minnesota protesters look “more violent” and to report that shooting victim Renee Good drove her car toward an immigration agent when she didn’t.

The New York Post’s Charles Gasparino reported that CNN’s staff is “in a panic” over the likely takeover, and he quoted an unnamed Paramount insider as saying, “Yes, I know people are scared but we’re looking to produce a news product that appeals to 70% of the country that is either center left or center right. Why be scared of that?”

David Ellison likes to cite that 70% figure, but it’s wrong. Polls show that only about 40% of American adults put themselves in the center. But whatever the number, a more legitimate approach would be to avoid pandering to the supposed center and instead “center” the truth. Report the facts. Keep liars off the air.

I don’t expect that to happen at CNN. Nor do I anticipate a dramatic lurch to the right. That was Weiss’ big mistake at CBS, costing it both credibility and viewership. I suspect the Ellisons have learned their lesson and will turn the dial only slightly to the right, allowing a few more Republicans to tell a few more lies.

One of CNN’s strengths is its international coverage, and that may face the greatest threat. The Ellisons are major supporters of Israel under Benjamin Netanyahu’s leadership, as is Weiss. Also, If the Ellisons’ Paramount buys WBD, 15% of the combined company will be owned by the Saudi sovereign wealth fund. Yes, the people who murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

CNN is sometimes disappointing now. It’s likely to get worse.

Now the good news

Counterbalancing the troubling prospects for CNN is what is happening every day on MS NOW: hard-hitting, well-focused, fact-based news.

Since the former MSNBC separated from NBC last October and changed its name to MS NOW, it has found its footing as a major pro-democracy voice in our country. While other networks and the New York Times clutch their pearls and say Trump is “testing norms,” MS NOW is calling out corruption and authoritarianism. It calls lies “lies.”

But it would be wrong to think of MS NOW as just the liberal flipside of Fox News. MS NOW is focused on real issues that matter to people’s lives. Fox is focused on culture clashes to instill fear and hatred. Also – and this is most important – MS NOW seeks to convey the truth, unlike Fox, which routinely twists the facts to mislead its viewers.

MS NOW features some of the best journalists in the business. Nicolle Wallace’s concentration on the threat of a dictatorship reflects a depth of understanding often lacking in corporate media. Jacob Soboroff, a leading reporter on the abuses of Trump’s immigration crackdown, has a new weekend show. Carol Leonnig regularly breaks news on national security and law enforcement, while Lisa Rubin deftly explains complex court cases.

The likely decline of CNN and the growing influence of MS NOW are demonstrated by legal affairs correspondent Paula Reid leaving CNN amid reports that her next newsroom will be at MS NOW.

I still have problems with the self-indulgent Joe Scarborough on MS NOW’s “Morning Joe,” but in general the network is a smart news operation that respects its audience. We need more like it.

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This week’s media atrocity

NPR embarrassed itself with Nina Totenberg’s false report that Justice Samuel Alito was retiring. Totenberg called it “the worst professional mistake of my more than 50 years in journalism." But I think it was the second worst. The worst was Totenberg continuing to cover the Supreme Court despite maintaining a decades-long close friendship with Ruth Bader Ginsburg. If Totenberg wanted to be her friend, she should’ve gotten off the SCOTUS beat.

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