This past Thursday night, while unconfirmed reports spread concerning a shooting at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, noting the confusion and pointing viewers to her channel's 9pm newscast.
Although it is by no means a impeccable news source, her words resonated for a lot of people. It stands as one of the outlets where you can find grounded and mostly trustworthy reporting – particularly during fast-moving events like the one unfolding near a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious Position Amid a Corporate Tug-of-War
However the news network, now 45 years old, finds itself in a uncertain position as two giant media empires compete for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the destiny of CNN has turned into a major game of business acquisition, not as a question of what benefits the information-seeking public.
“This represents another instance of the profound systemic issues with roots in many years of regulatory actions,” said Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy at the Penn.
The conjecture about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a broader point.
“It gets presented as a financial tale with key players as the central actors, but there is hardly any discussion of the common good,” Pickard said.
The Complicating Layer: Donald Trump
The CNN scenario is further muddied by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his main “fake news” adversary.
Think back to the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his administration's retaliatory revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges 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 criticism and scrutiny. That is part of why he seems to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.
There is a basis to favor that company 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 installed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that historic news network.
A Possibility of Continued Instability
Significantly, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a independent unit. That would be a relief to many at the network, but it’s hardly a guarantee of stability. That arrangement could set up CNN for another sale. There is no finish line.
In the view of Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is illegal, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance stated that anti-trust laws should prohibit both deals.
“Each proposed deal would be bad for the country, and both should be challenged by anti-trust authorities,” Wu argued.
The Bigger Challenge and a Way Ahead
No matter the outcome regarding CNN, the larger issue persists.
“What we have now is a highly system hostile to democracy, but we must resist the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard noted. Policy decisions – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this hyper-commercialized monster, and new policy decisions can fix it.
Is this likely in an era where the head of the FCC refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Overhaul is highly improbable now, but that is not to say it will be impossible forever.
Policies that strengthen independent news organizations, aid local journalism, finance public media, and outlaw the concentration of media power in a handful of hands are achievable – they are essential for a functioning democracy.
When it comes to media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations including CNN cannot be tools in the latest merger game.
