On Thursday evening, amid swirling speculation regarding a shooting at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins took to social media, highlighting the uncertainty and pointing viewers to her channel's 9pm newscast.
While CNN is certainly not a impeccable news source, her message rang true to many. It stands as one of the organizations where you can find reality-based and largely trustworthy reporting – especially during crises such as the one unfolding close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious State Amid a Corporate Tug-of-War
But the news network, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a uncertain position as two giant media empires compete for ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
Regardless of who wins, the destiny of CNN has been drawn into a high-stakes game of corporate ownership, instead of as a question of what helps the news-consuming public.
“Here is one more case of the profound systemic issues with origins in decades of governmental choices,” noted Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the Pennsylvania University.
The speculation about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a larger point.
“The narrative is crafted as a business story with powerful individuals as the main characters, but there is very little discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard said.
A Further Element: The Former President
This situation is made more complex by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his chief “fake news” foe.
Recall the cries of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his team's disciplinary withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his clashes with Collins in White House briefings.
Trump now asserts that CNN needs new ownership. Many see this as a desire for ownership that will insulate him from negative coverage and examination. That is part of why he seems to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.
Trump has reason to favor that bidder more. For one thing, it is controlled by David Ellison, son of the pro-Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
Paramount, parent of CBS News, also recently appointed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that storied news network.
A Future of Further Uncertainty
It is important to note, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a independent unit. Such a move could be a relief to many at the network, but it’s hardly a safe harbor. That setup could pave the way for CNN for yet another acquisition. There is no finish line.
According to Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance recently argued that competition laws should disallow both deals.
“Either merger would be bad for the country, and both should be opposed by regulators,” Wu stated.
The Core Challenge and a Potential Solution
Whatever happens in this situation, the underlying crisis endures.
“What we have now is a highly system hostile to democracy, but we ought not succumb to the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard emphasized. Regulatory choices – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this profit-obsessed monster, and new policy decisions can fix it.
Will that happen in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair will not confirm that the agency is independent? Change is highly improbable now, but that should not imply it will not happen in the future.
Policies that strengthen independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, fund public media, and prohibit the accumulation of media power in very few hands are within reach – they are necessary for a robust democracy.
Regarding media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations like CNN cannot be pawns in the most recent acquisition battle.
