On Thursday evening, amid swirling speculation regarding an incident at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, highlighting the uncertainty and directing people to her network’s 9pm newscast.
Although the network is hardly a perfect news source, her message resonated for numerous observers. It stands as one of the organizations where you can find reality-based and mostly trustworthy reporting – particularly during crises such as the one taking place near a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Vulnerable Position Amid a Corporate Battle
Yet the news network, now middle-aged, finds itself in a precarious position as two giant media empires vie for ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the fate of CNN has turned into a high-risk game of corporate ownership, not as a question of what serves the information-seeking public.
“This is yet another example of the profound systemic issues with origins in many years of governmental choices,” said Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the University of Pennsylvania.
The debate about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a broader point.
“It is often framed as a financial tale with key players as the main characters, but there is very little discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard said.
A Further Layer: Donald Trump
The network's predicament is complicated by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his main “fake news” foe.
Remember the chants of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his team's disciplinary revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his clashes with Collins in official meetings.
Trump now claims that CNN needs new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will protect him from criticism and scrutiny. That is part of why he seems to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
There is a basis to like that suitor more. For one thing, it is controlled by David Ellison, son of the ally of Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
Paramount, owner of CBS News, also recently installed the conservative Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that venerable news network.
A Future of Further Instability
Significantly, if Netflix wins, 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 setup could pave the way for CNN for a future sale. There is no finish line.
If you ask Timothy Wu, a lot of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that competition laws should prohibit both deals.
“Each proposed deal would be detrimental to the country, and both should be contested by the government,” Wu argued.
The Fundamental Challenge and a Way Ahead
Whatever happens regarding CNN, the bigger problem persists.
“What we have now is a profoundly structure that undermines democracy, but we ought not succumb to the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard emphasized. Regulatory choices – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this profit-obsessed monster, and new policy decisions can tackle it.
Can reform occur in an era where the top communications regulator won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Reform is very unlikely now, but that is not to say it will not happen in the future.
Initiatives that bolster independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, fund public media, and prevent the concentration of media power in too few hands are within reach – they are vital for a healthy democracy.
In the world of media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations such as CNN cannot be pawns in the latest merger game.
