On Thursday evening, while unconfirmed reports spread regarding a shooting at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins used social media, highlighting the uncertainty and guiding the public to her network’s 9pm newscast.
Even though CNN is certainly not a perfect news source, her statement resonated for a lot of people. It is one of the organizations where there exists fact-based and mostly reliable reporting – notably during breaking news situations such as the one unfolding in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Vulnerable Position During a High-Stakes Tug-of-War
Yet CNN, now 45 years old, finds itself in a vulnerable situation as two huge media corporations vie for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Regardless of who wins, the future of CNN has been drawn into a major game of mergers and acquisitions, instead of as a question of what helps the news-consuming public.
“This is yet another example of the deep structural problems with origins in many years of governmental choices,” said Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy at the University of Pennsylvania.
The debate about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – could it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a broader point.
“It is often framed as a corporate drama with powerful individuals as the central actors, but there is scant discussion of the common good,” Pickard said.
A Further Factor: Donald Trump
This situation is further muddied by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his main “fake news” foe.
Remember the chants of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his administration’s punitive revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his clashes with Collins in official meetings.
Trump now asserts that the network requires new ownership. Many see this as a desire for ownership that will shield him from negative coverage and examination. That is a factor in why he seems to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.
There is a basis to favor that suitor more. For one thing, it is controlled by David Ellison, son of the pro-Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
The company, parent of CBS News, also recently installed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that storied news network.
A Future of Continued Uncertainty
It is important to note, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out 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 structure could pave the way for CNN for another sale. The cycle continues.
In the view of Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is illegal, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance recently argued that competition laws should block both deals.
“Either merger would be harmful to the country, and both should be contested by the government,” Wu argued.
The Fundamental Problem and a Potential Solution
Whatever happens in this situation, the bigger problem persists.
“What we have now is a profoundly system hostile to democracy, but we must resist a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard noted. Regulatory choices – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this profit-obsessed monster, and different policy decisions can address it.
Will that happen in an era where the top communications regulator won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Reform is highly improbable now, but that should not imply it will not happen in the future.
Measures that support independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, finance public media, and outlaw the concentration of media power in a handful of hands are not only possible – they are vital for a functioning democracy.
In the world of media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations such as CNN shouldn’t be pieces in the latest corporate chess match.
