Late Thursday, amid swirling speculation concerning a shooting at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins used social media, highlighting the uncertainty and pointing viewers to her network’s 9pm newscast.
Even though the network is hardly a flawless news source, her message resonated for a lot of people. It remains one of the outlets where one can locate reality-based and largely reliable reporting – especially during breaking news situations such as the one taking place in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious State During a Corporate Battle
But the news network, now middle-aged, finds itself in a uncertain position as two giant media corporations vie for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the fate of CNN has been drawn into a high-stakes game of business acquisition, rather than as a question of what serves the information-seeking public.
“Here is one more case of the profound systemic issues with roots in many years 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 who will own Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a larger point.
“It gets presented as a business story with key players as the main characters, but there is very little discussion of the common good,” Pickard said.
The Additional Factor: The Former President
The CNN scenario is further muddied by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his primary “fake news” antagonist.
Recall the chants of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his team's disciplinary withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in press briefings.
Trump now claims that CNN needs new ownership. Many see this as a desire for ownership that will insulate him from journalistic oversight. That is part of why he appears to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
There is a basis to favor that suitor more. For one thing, it is run by David Ellison, son of the ally of Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
The company, owner of CBS News, also recently installed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that historic news network.
A Possibility of More Instability
Notably, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a standalone company. This might be a relief to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a safe harbor. That structure could position CNN for yet another acquisition. There is no finish line.
If you ask Timothy Wu, a lot of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance recently argued that anti-trust laws should prohibit both deals.
“Both acquisition attempts would be harmful to the country, and both should be contested by anti-trust authorities,” Wu argued.
The Core Issue and a Way Ahead
Regardless of the resolution regarding CNN, the larger issue endures.
“What we have now is a highly anti-democratic system, but we must resist a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard emphasized. Government actions – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this overly commercial monster, and new policy decisions can address it.
Will that happen in an era where the head of the FCC won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Reform is a distant prospect now, but that should not imply it will be impossible forever.
Measures that bolster independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, finance public media, and prohibit the accumulation of media power in a handful of hands are within reach – they are necessary for a robust democracy.
In the world of media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations including CNN cannot be pieces in the newest corporate chess match.
