On Thursday evening, as rumors swirled concerning an incident at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, highlighting the uncertainty and pointing viewers to her channel's 9pm newscast.
While the network is hardly a flawless news source, her words rang true for numerous observers. It remains one of the outlets where one can locate fact-based and generally dependable reporting – notably during breaking news situations such as the one developing near a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious Position During a High-Stakes Battle
But CNN, now middle-aged, finds itself in a precarious state as two massive media corporations vie for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
No matter the result, the future of CNN has been drawn into a major game of business acquisition, not as a question of what serves the information-seeking public.
“This represents another instance of the fundamental flaws with roots in many years of governmental choices,” stated Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the University of Pennsylvania.
The debate about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a more important point.
“It gets presented as a corporate drama with key players as the protagonists, but there is hardly any discussion of the public interest,” Pickard explained.
The Additional Layer: The Former President
The network's predicament is further muddied by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his main “fake news” adversary.
Remember the cries of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his team's disciplinary revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in White House briefings.
Trump now says that the network requires new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will protect him from negative coverage and examination. That is a factor in why he seems to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.
Trump has reason to like 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, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that venerable news network.
A Possibility of Continued Instability
It is important to note, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a separate entity. Such a move could be a relief to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a safe harbor. That structure could pave the way for CNN for yet another acquisition. It never ends.
In the view of Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is illegal, 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 challenged by regulators,” Wu argued.
The Bigger Issue and a Way Ahead
No matter the outcome in this situation, the underlying crisis remains.
“The present media landscape is a very system hostile to democracy, but we shouldn’t give in to a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard noted. Policy decisions – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this overly commercial monster, and new policy decisions can fix it.
Is this likely in an era where the top communications regulator refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Overhaul is very unlikely now, but that doesn’t mean it will be impossible forever.
Measures that support independent news organizations, aid local journalism, finance public media, and outlaw the accumulation of media power in very few hands are not only possible – they are essential for a robust democracy.
In the world of media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations such as CNN cannot be tools in the latest acquisition battle.
