On Thursday evening, as rumors swirled concerning an incident 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.
Although the network is hardly a impeccable news source, her statement rang true to many. It is one of the broadcasters where there exists fact-based and mostly reliable reporting – notably during breaking news situations such as the one unfolding near a New Hampshire storage facility.
An Uncertain Situation During a Business Battle
However the news network, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a uncertain situation as two massive media corporations vie for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
No matter the result, the fate of CNN has turned into a high-risk game of business acquisition, not as a question of what benefits the news-consuming public.
“This represents another instance of the profound systemic issues with origins in decades of policy decisions,” noted Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the Penn.
The speculation about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a broader point.
“It gets presented as a corporate drama with influential figures as the main characters, but there is hardly any discussion of the public interest,” Pickard said.
A Further Layer: The Former President
The network's predicament is complicated by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his primary “fake news” antagonist.
Remember the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his team's disciplinary revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in White House briefings.
Trump now asserts that CNN needs new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will protect him from criticism and scrutiny. That is one reason why he appears to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.
There is a basis to prefer that company more. For one thing, it is controlled by David Ellison, son of the Trump-friendly Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
Paramount, parent of CBS News, also recently appointed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that historic news network.
An Outcome of More Instability
Significantly, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a standalone company. Such a move could be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a safe harbor. That arrangement could position CNN for yet another acquisition. The cycle continues.
In the view of Timothy Wu, a lot of this is against the law, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance stated that anti-trust laws should block both deals.
“Both acquisition attempts would be harmful to the country, and both should be contested by regulators,” Wu argued.
The Core Issue and a Potential Solution
Regardless of the resolution regarding CNN, the underlying crisis remains.
“What we have now is a profoundly system hostile to democracy, but we must resist the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard said. Policy decisions – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this overly commercial monster, and revised policy decisions can tackle it.
Can reform occur in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Change is very unlikely now, but that should not imply it will be impossible forever.
Initiatives that strengthen independent news organizations, aid local journalism, subsidize public media, and prevent the accumulation of media power in a handful of hands are not only possible – they are vital for a robust democracy.
Regarding media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations including CNN must not be pieces in the latest acquisition battle.
