This past Thursday night, amid swirling speculation about the Brown University gunman, the network's Kaitlan Collins used social media, highlighting the uncertainty and pointing viewers to her channel's 9pm newscast.
Even though CNN is certainly not a flawless news source, her words resonated for numerous observers. It remains one of the broadcasters where one can locate fact-based and generally trustworthy reporting – particularly during breaking news situations such as the one taking place close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Vulnerable Position Amid a High-Stakes Battle
But the news network, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a vulnerable position as two massive media corporations battle over ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the fate of CNN has turned into a high-stakes game of corporate ownership, not as a question of what helps the information-seeking public.
“Here is one more case of the deep structural problems with origins in many years of governmental choices,” said Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the University of Pennsylvania.
The conjecture about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a larger point.
“The narrative is crafted as a business story with key players as the protagonists, but there is very little discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard added.
The Complicating Layer: The Former President
The network's predicament is further muddied by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his chief “fake news” adversary.
Remember the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his administration's retaliatory withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his clashes with Collins in White House briefings.
Trump now says that the network requires new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will protect him from negative coverage and examination. That is a factor in why he seems to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.
There is a basis to favor that suitor more. For one thing, it is run by David Ellison, son of the Trump-friendly Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
The company, parent of CBS News, also recently placed the conservative Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that historic news network.
A Future of Continued Uncertainty
Significantly, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a separate entity. That would be a relief to many at the network, but it’s hardly a guarantee of stability. That structure could pave the way for CNN for yet another acquisition. There is no finish line.
If you ask Timothy Wu, much of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance stated that anti-trust laws should prohibit both deals.
“Both acquisition attempts would be bad for the country, and both should be opposed by anti-trust authorities,” Wu recently wrote.
The Fundamental Challenge and a Potential Solution
Regardless of the resolution in this situation, the larger issue endures.
“The present media landscape is a profoundly anti-democratic system, but we ought not succumb to learned helplessness,” Pickard emphasized. Government actions – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this profit-obsessed monster, and revised policy decisions can address it.
Will that happen in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Overhaul is a distant prospect now, but that should not imply it will be impossible forever.
Measures that support independent news organizations, aid local journalism, finance public media, and prevent the consolidation of media power in too few hands are achievable – they are essential for a functioning democracy.
When it comes to media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations like CNN must not be pieces in the latest merger game.
