On Thursday evening, amid swirling speculation concerning an incident at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins took to social media, noting the confusion and directing people to her network’s 9pm newscast.
Although CNN is certainly not a perfect news source, her statement resonated for a lot of people. It is one of the broadcasters where there exists fact-based and largely trustworthy reporting – notably during fast-moving events like the one unfolding in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.
An Uncertain Position During a High-Stakes Tug-of-War
Yet the news network, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a precarious state as two giant media corporations vie for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Regardless of who wins, the destiny of CNN has turned into a high-stakes game of mergers and acquisitions, rather than as a question of what benefits the information-seeking public.
“This is yet another example of the profound systemic issues with origins in many years of policy decisions,” noted Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy at the University of Pennsylvania.
The conjecture about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a broader point.
“It gets presented as a financial tale with key players as the protagonists, but there is scant discussion of the common good,” Pickard explained.
The Additional Factor: Political Influence
The CNN scenario is complicated by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his main “fake news” adversary.
Think back to the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his team's disciplinary revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his clashes with Collins in official meetings.
Trump now claims that the network requires new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will shield him from criticism and scrutiny. That is one reason why he appears to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.
Trump has reason to prefer that company 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 conservative Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that historic news network.
An Outcome of Continued Instability
Notably, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a independent unit. Such a move could be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a safe harbor. That setup could pave the way for CNN for a future sale. It never ends.
According to Timothy Wu, much of this is illegal, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance recently argued that competition laws should disallow both deals.
“Both acquisition attempts would be detrimental to the country, and both should be challenged by the government,” Wu stated.
The Fundamental Issue and a Path Forward
Whatever happens regarding CNN, the underlying crisis persists.
“What we have now is a profoundly structure that undermines democracy, but we must resist a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard noted. Government actions – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this overly commercial monster, and new policy decisions can address it.
Can reform occur in an era where the head of the FCC won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Overhaul is highly improbable now, but that is not to say it will not happen in the future.
Policies that bolster independent news organizations, aid local journalism, finance public media, and prohibit the accumulation of media power in very few hands are achievable – they are vital for a healthy democracy.
When it comes to media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations like CNN cannot be pawns in the latest corporate chess match.
