On Thursday evening, amid swirling speculation about a shooting at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, noting the confusion and guiding the public to her channel's 9pm newscast.
While CNN is certainly not a impeccable news source, her words seemed accurate for a lot of people. It stands as one of the broadcasters where there exists grounded and mostly reliable reporting – particularly during breaking news situations like the one taking place in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.
An Uncertain Position Amid a Business Struggle
However the news network, now middle-aged, finds itself in a vulnerable state as two giant media corporations vie for ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
Regardless of who wins, the fate of CNN has been drawn into a major game of corporate ownership, instead of as a question of what serves the news-consuming public.
“This is yet another example of the deep structural problems with roots in decades of regulatory actions,” noted Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Pennsylvania University.
The speculation about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a more important point.
“It is often framed as a business story with powerful individuals as the protagonists, but there is very little discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard said.
The Complicating Element: The Former President
This situation is further muddied by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his main “fake news” antagonist.
Think back to the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his administration's retaliatory withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in official meetings.
Trump now says that the network requires new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will insulate him from criticism and scrutiny. That is part of why he appears to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.
He has grounds to like that company 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.
Paramount, owner of CBS News, also recently placed the conservative Bari Weiss, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that venerable news network.
An Outcome of More Turmoil
Significantly, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a independent unit. That would be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s far from a secure position. That arrangement could set up CNN for yet another acquisition. It never ends.
If you ask Timothy Wu, a lot of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that anti-trust laws should disallow both deals.
“Either merger would be harmful to the country, and both should be opposed by the government,” Wu stated.
The Core Issue and a Potential Solution
Regardless of the resolution in this situation, the larger issue persists.
“Our current system is a profoundly system hostile to democracy, but we shouldn’t give in to a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard noted. Regulatory choices – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build 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? Reform is a distant prospect now, but that doesn’t mean it will not happen in the future.
Measures that bolster independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, finance public media, and outlaw the accumulation of media power in too few hands are within reach – they are necessary for a healthy democracy.
In the world of media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations including CNN cannot be pieces in the most recent corporate chess match.
