Late Thursday, as rumors swirled about an incident at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins took to social media, pointing out the conflicting information and guiding the public to her channel's 9pm newscast.
Even though CNN is certainly not a perfect news source, her message rang true for a lot of people. It remains one of the broadcasters where you can find reality-based and largely trustworthy reporting – notably during fast-moving events like the one taking place close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious Position During a Corporate Tug-of-War
However CNN, now 45 years old, finds itself in a vulnerable state as two massive media corporations 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, not as a question of what helps the information-seeking public.
“Here is one more case of the profound systemic issues with roots in decades of governmental choices,” said Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the Pennsylvania University.
The conjecture about which company will control 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 influential figures as the central actors, but there is scant discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard explained.
The Additional Factor: Donald Trump
This situation is further muddied by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his primary “fake news” antagonist.
Think back to the cries of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his team's disciplinary suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in White House briefings.
Trump now asserts that the network requires new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will insulate him from criticism and scrutiny. That is a factor in why he appears to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
Trump has reason to favor that company more. For one thing, it is run by David Ellison, son of the ally of Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
The company, owner of CBS News, also recently placed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that storied news network.
An Outcome of Continued Uncertainty
Significantly, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a independent unit. This might be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a secure position. That structure could set up CNN for yet another acquisition. There is no finish line.
In the view of Timothy Wu, a lot of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance stated that competition laws should prohibit both deals.
“Each proposed deal would be bad for the country, and both should be contested by anti-trust authorities,” Wu recently wrote.
The Fundamental Problem and a Potential Solution
No matter the outcome regarding CNN, the underlying crisis remains.
“Our current system is a highly anti-democratic system, but we must resist learned helplessness,” Pickard noted. Regulatory choices – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this overly commercial monster, and revised policy decisions can fix it.
Is this likely in an era where the top communications regulator will not confirm that the agency is independent? Change is very unlikely now, but that should not imply it will not happen in the future.
Initiatives that support independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, fund public media, and prohibit the consolidation of media power in too few hands are not only possible – they are essential for a healthy democracy.
In the world of media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations including CNN must not be tools in the latest merger game.
