This past Thursday night, while unconfirmed reports spread regarding a shooting at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, pointing out the conflicting information and pointing viewers to her channel's 9pm newscast.
Although CNN is certainly not a flawless news source, her message seemed accurate for a lot of people. It remains one of the broadcasters where there exists grounded and mostly trustworthy reporting – especially during crises like the one taking place in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Vulnerable Position During a Business Battle
But CNN, now 45 years old, finds itself in a precarious position as two huge media conglomerates battle over ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the fate of CNN has been drawn into a high-risk game of mergers and acquisitions, rather than as a question of what helps the news-consuming public.
“Here is one more case of the deep structural problems with origins in many years of governmental choices,” said Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the Penn.
The debate about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – could it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a larger point.
“The narrative is crafted as a financial tale with influential figures as the protagonists, but there is hardly any discussion of the common good,” Pickard said.
The Complicating Layer: Donald Trump
The network's predicament is further muddied by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his primary “fake news” antagonist.
Remember the chants of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his administration’s punitive revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in press briefings.
Trump now asserts that the network requires new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will shield him from journalistic oversight. That is a factor in why he appears to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
There is a basis to like that company more. For one thing, it is led 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 appointed the conservative Bari Weiss, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that venerable news network.
A Possibility of Continued Uncertainty
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 far from a safe harbor. That arrangement could pave the way for CNN for a future sale. The cycle continues.
According to Timothy Wu, a lot of this is against the law, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that anti-trust laws should disallow both deals.
“Both acquisition attempts would be detrimental to the country, and both should be opposed by the government,” Wu argued.
The Fundamental Problem and a Potential Solution
Regardless of the resolution regarding CNN, the bigger problem persists.
“The present media landscape is a very anti-democratic system, but we must resist learned helplessness,” Pickard said. Regulatory choices – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this hyper-commercialized monster, and revised policy decisions can address it.
Can reform occur in an era where the head of the FCC refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Change is a distant prospect now, but that should not imply it will be impossible forever.
Initiatives that bolster independent news organizations, aid local journalism, subsidize public media, and outlaw the concentration of media power in a handful of hands are not only possible – they are vital for a healthy democracy.
Regarding media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations including CNN shouldn’t be pawns in the most recent merger game.
