On Thursday evening, as rumors swirled regarding the Brown University gunman, the network's Kaitlan Collins used social media, highlighting the uncertainty and pointing viewers to her network’s 9pm newscast.
While the network is hardly a impeccable news source, her words seemed accurate for numerous observers. It is one of the outlets where there exists fact-based and mostly trustworthy reporting – notably during fast-moving events like the one developing near a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious Situation During a High-Stakes Tug-of-War
Yet the news network, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a uncertain situation as two giant media conglomerates battle over ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the future of CNN has become part of a high-risk game of mergers and acquisitions, not as a question of what serves the information-seeking public.
“This represents another instance of the fundamental flaws with roots in decades of policy decisions,” noted Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the University of Pennsylvania.
The speculation about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a more important point.
“It is often framed as a corporate drama with powerful individuals as the main characters, but there is hardly any discussion of the common good,” Pickard explained.
The Additional Element: Donald Trump
The network's predicament is made more complex by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his main “fake news” foe.
Think back to the cries of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his team's disciplinary revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in official meetings.
Trump now asserts that CNN needs new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will insulate him from negative coverage and examination. That is one reason why he seems to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.
Trump has reason to like that bidder more. For one thing, it is controlled 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 appointed the conservative Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that historic news network.
An Outcome of Further Uncertainty
Notably, if Netflix wins, 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 not exactly a guarantee of stability. That arrangement could pave the way for CNN for yet another acquisition. It never ends.
According to Timothy Wu, a lot of this is against the law, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance stated that competition laws should block both deals.
“Both acquisition attempts would be harmful to the country, and both should be challenged by the government,” Wu stated.
The Fundamental Issue and a Way Ahead
Regardless of the resolution regarding CNN, the bigger problem persists.
“What we have now is a very system hostile to democracy, but we must resist the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard said. Government actions – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this profit-obsessed monster, and new policy decisions can fix it.
Can reform occur in an era where the top communications regulator refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Change is very unlikely now, but that is not to say it will never happen.
Measures that strengthen independent news organizations, aid local journalism, subsidize public media, and prohibit the concentration of media power in too few hands are not only possible – they are vital for a healthy democracy.
In the world of media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations such as CNN must not be tools in the most recent corporate chess match.
