Late Thursday, while unconfirmed reports spread about the Brown University gunman, the network's Kaitlan Collins took to social media, highlighting the uncertainty and directing people to her channel's 9pm newscast.
Although it is by no means a impeccable news source, her words resonated for numerous observers. It is one of the outlets where you can find reality-based and largely dependable reporting – particularly during crises such as the one taking place in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.
An Uncertain Position Amid a Business Tug-of-War
But the news network, now 45 years old, finds itself in a uncertain situation as two giant media corporations battle over ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
No matter the result, the future of CNN has become part of a major game of corporate ownership, instead of as a question of what benefits the information-seeking public.
“Here is one more case of the profound systemic issues with origins in decades of governmental choices,” noted Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the Penn.
The speculation about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a more important point.
“It gets presented as a corporate drama with influential figures as the central actors, but there is hardly any discussion of the public interest,” Pickard said.
The Complicating Factor: Political Influence
This situation is made more complex by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his primary “fake news” antagonist.
Remember the chants 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 claims that the network requires new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will protect him from journalistic oversight. That is one reason why he seems to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
Trump has reason to favor that bidder more. For one thing, it is controlled by David Ellison, son of the pro-Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
Paramount, parent of CBS News, also recently installed the conservative Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that storied news network.
A Possibility of Continued Turmoil
Significantly, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a separate entity. This might be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s far from a guarantee of stability. That arrangement could set up CNN for yet another acquisition. The cycle continues.
If you ask Timothy Wu, much of this is against the law, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that competition laws should disallow both deals.
“Either merger would be harmful to the country, and both should be challenged by anti-trust authorities,” Wu recently wrote.
The Fundamental Problem and a Way Ahead
No matter the outcome with this particular battle, the underlying crisis remains.
“What we have now is a profoundly structure that undermines democracy, but we shouldn’t give in to the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard said. Regulatory choices – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this overly commercial monster, and revised policy decisions can fix it.
Will that happen in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair will not confirm that the agency is independent? Reform is very unlikely now, but that should not imply it will never happen.
Policies that bolster independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, finance public media, and prevent the consolidation of media power in too few hands are within reach – they are vital for a functioning democracy.
Regarding media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations like CNN must not be tools in the newest acquisition battle.
