Late Thursday, amid swirling speculation concerning the Brown University gunman, the network's Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, highlighting the uncertainty and guiding the public to her network’s 9pm newscast.
Even though the network is hardly a perfect news source, her message resonated for a lot of people. It is one of the outlets where one can locate grounded and mostly reliable reporting – especially during breaking news situations such as the one taking place in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Vulnerable Situation Amid a High-Stakes Tug-of-War
However CNN, now middle-aged, finds itself in a vulnerable position as two giant media conglomerates battle over ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
No matter the result, the destiny of CNN has turned into a high-risk game of corporate ownership, not as a question of what helps the information-seeking public.
“Here is one more case of the profound systemic issues with roots in many years of policy decisions,” stated Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the University of Pennsylvania.
The speculation about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a more important point.
“It is often framed as a financial tale with powerful individuals as the protagonists, but there is very little discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard said.
The Additional Layer: Political Influence
The CNN scenario is made more complex by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his primary “fake news” foe.
Recall the cries of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his administration’s punitive suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in White House briefings.
Trump now says that the network requires new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will insulate him from criticism and scrutiny. That is part of why he seems to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
There is a basis to favor that bidder 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.
The company, parent of CBS News, also recently placed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that historic news network.
An Outcome of More Turmoil
It is important to note, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a independent unit. That would be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s far from a guarantee of stability. That structure could set up CNN for yet another acquisition. It never ends.
If you ask Timothy Wu, a lot of this is illegal, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance stated that anti-trust laws should prohibit both deals.
“Both acquisition attempts would be bad for the country, and both should be contested by regulators,” Wu argued.
The Fundamental Problem and a Way Ahead
No matter the outcome regarding CNN, the underlying crisis remains.
“What we have now is a profoundly anti-democratic system, but we ought not succumb to learned helplessness,” Pickard said. Government actions – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this profit-obsessed monster, and different policy decisions can fix it.
Will that happen in an era where the head of the FCC refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Reform is highly improbable now, but that is not to say it will be impossible forever.
Measures that strengthen independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, subsidize public media, and prohibit the consolidation of media power in a handful of hands are within reach – they are vital for a robust democracy.
When it comes to media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations like CNN shouldn’t be pawns in the latest acquisition battle.
