Late Thursday, as rumors swirled regarding the Brown University gunman, the network's Kaitlan Collins used social media, highlighting the uncertainty and guiding the public to her network’s 9pm newscast.
While CNN is certainly not a flawless news source, her message seemed accurate for numerous observers. It remains one of the outlets where one can locate grounded and mostly dependable reporting – especially during fast-moving events such as the one unfolding near a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious State Amid a Business Battle
Yet the news network, now middle-aged, finds itself in a precarious position as two massive media conglomerates battle over ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Regardless of who wins, the fate of CNN has turned into a high-stakes game of mergers and acquisitions, rather than as a question of what benefits the news-consuming public.
“Here is one more case of the deep structural problems with roots in decades of policy decisions,” noted Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the Penn.
The conjecture about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a more important point.
“It gets presented as a business story with influential figures as the protagonists, but there is hardly any discussion of the common good,” Pickard explained.
The Additional Factor: Donald Trump
The network's predicament is made more complex by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his primary “fake news” antagonist.
Think back to the cries of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his administration's retaliatory revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in press briefings.
Trump now says that CNN needs new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will protect him from criticism and scrutiny. That is a factor in why he seems to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.
There is a basis to like that bidder more. For one thing, it is run by David Ellison, son of the Trump-friendly Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
Paramount, parent of CBS News, also recently placed the conservative Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that storied news network.
A Future of More Uncertainty
Significantly, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a separate entity. 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. The cycle continues.
According to Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance stated that anti-trust laws should disallow both deals.
“Both acquisition attempts would be harmful to the country, and both should be challenged by the government,” Wu stated.
The Fundamental Challenge and a Path Forward
No matter the outcome regarding CNN, the underlying crisis persists.
“The present media landscape is a highly anti-democratic system, but we shouldn’t give in to learned helplessness,” Pickard noted. Regulatory choices – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this hyper-commercialized monster, and revised policy decisions can tackle it.
Can reform occur in an era where the head of the FCC won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Change is highly improbable now, but that should not imply it will be impossible forever.
Initiatives that support independent news organizations, aid local journalism, subsidize public media, and prevent the concentration of media power in too few hands are not only possible – they are vital for a healthy democracy.
When it comes to media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations including CNN cannot be tools in the most recent corporate chess match.
