On Thursday evening, amid swirling speculation about a shooting at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins used social media, highlighting the uncertainty and pointing viewers to her channel's 9pm newscast.
While the network is hardly a perfect news source, her message rang true for a lot of people. It is one of the outlets where one can locate fact-based and mostly dependable reporting – notably during crises such as the one developing near a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Vulnerable Position Amid a Business Battle
But the news network, now middle-aged, finds itself in a precarious position as two massive media conglomerates battle over ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the future of CNN has been drawn into a high-stakes game of business acquisition, instead of as a question of what helps the news-consuming public.
“This is yet another example of the fundamental flaws with origins in decades of regulatory actions,” stated Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the University of Pennsylvania.
The conjecture about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – could it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a broader point.
“The narrative is crafted as a corporate drama with key players as the main characters, but there is hardly any discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard said.
The Additional Factor: Political Influence
This situation is further muddied by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his chief “fake news” antagonist.
Recall the cries of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his administration's retaliatory 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. You can read that as ownership that will protect him from criticism and scrutiny. That is part of why he appears to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.
There is a basis to like that suitor more. For one thing, it is run by David Ellison, son of the pro-Trump 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.
A Future of Continued Uncertainty
Significantly, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a standalone company. Such a move could be a relief to many at the network, but it’s far from a safe harbor. That arrangement could set up CNN for another sale. The cycle continues.
According to Timothy Wu, a lot of this is against the law, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance recently argued that anti-trust laws should disallow both deals.
“Each proposed deal would be bad for the country, and both should be opposed by the government,” Wu recently wrote.
The Bigger Issue and a Way Ahead
Whatever happens in this situation, the bigger problem persists.
“What we have now is a very structure that undermines democracy, but we shouldn’t give in to the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard emphasized. Regulatory choices – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this overly commercial monster, and revised policy decisions can fix it.
Can reform occur in an era where the top communications regulator will not confirm that the agency is independent? Change is a distant prospect now, but that is not to say it will never happen.
Policies that strengthen independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, finance public media, and outlaw the accumulation of media power in very few hands are achievable – they are necessary for a functioning democracy.
Regarding media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations like CNN must not be tools in the newest acquisition battle.
