This past Thursday night, as rumors swirled about the Brown University gunman, the network's Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, noting the confusion and pointing viewers to her network’s 9pm newscast.
Although CNN is certainly not a flawless news source, her words seemed accurate for numerous observers. It remains one of the broadcasters where you can find fact-based and mostly reliable reporting – notably during fast-moving events like the one developing in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.
An Uncertain Position Amid a Corporate Struggle
But CNN, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a vulnerable situation as two massive media empires battle over ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
No matter the result, the future of CNN has turned into a high-risk game of business acquisition, instead of as a question of what benefits the information-seeking public.
“This represents another instance of the profound systemic issues with origins in many years of regulatory actions,” said Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Penn.
The debate about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a more important point.
“It is often framed as a financial tale with influential figures as the main characters, but there is scant discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard explained.
The Complicating Factor: Donald Trump
The network's predicament is complicated by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his primary “fake news” antagonist.
Remember the chants of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his administration's retaliatory withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in official meetings.
Trump now asserts that CNN needs new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will shield him from journalistic oversight. That is part of 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 bidder more. For one thing, it is run by David Ellison, son of the pro-Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
The company, parent of CBS News, also recently placed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that historic news network.
A Possibility of Continued Uncertainty
Significantly, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a standalone company. Such a move could be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a safe harbor. That arrangement could set up CNN for a future sale. There is no finish line.
According to Timothy Wu, a lot of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance stated that anti-trust laws should block both deals.
“Either merger would be harmful to the country, and both should be challenged by the government,” Wu stated.
The Bigger Problem and a Potential Solution
No matter the outcome with this particular battle, the underlying crisis endures.
“The present media landscape is a profoundly system hostile to democracy, but we must resist a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard emphasized. Regulatory choices – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this overly commercial monster, and revised policy decisions can address it.
Will that happen in an era where the head of the FCC 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.
Measures that strengthen independent news organizations, aid local journalism, subsidize public media, and prohibit the consolidation of media power in very few hands are within reach – they are necessary for a healthy democracy.
In the world of media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations like CNN must not be tools in the latest acquisition battle.
