Late Thursday, amid swirling speculation regarding a shooting at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins used social media, pointing out the conflicting information and directing people to her network’s 9pm newscast.
Although it is by no means a perfect news source, her words seemed accurate to many. It remains one of the organizations where one can locate fact-based and largely reliable reporting – especially during breaking news situations like the one developing close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious Position Amid a Corporate Struggle
Yet CNN, now middle-aged, finds itself in a vulnerable state as two massive media corporations compete 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 business acquisition, rather than as a question of what benefits the information-seeking public.
“This is yet another example of the profound systemic issues with origins in many years of policy decisions,” said Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy at the Pennsylvania University.
The debate about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a more important point.
“It is often framed as a financial tale with key players as the central actors, but there is very little discussion of the public interest,” Pickard added.
A Further Factor: The Former President
The network's predicament is complicated by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his chief “fake news” adversary.
Think back to the chants of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his team's disciplinary withdrawal 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 one reason why he seems to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.
There is a basis to prefer that bidder more. For one thing, it is led by David Ellison, son of the pro-Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
Paramount, owner of CBS News, also recently appointed the conservative Bari Weiss, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that historic news network.
A Future of Continued Instability
Significantly, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a independent unit. Such a move could be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s hardly a guarantee of stability. That setup could set up CNN for yet another acquisition. There is no finish line.
According to Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is illegal, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance stated that anti-trust laws should disallow both deals.
“Both acquisition attempts would be detrimental to the country, and both should be contested by anti-trust authorities,” Wu recently wrote.
The Core Challenge and a Potential Solution
Regardless of the resolution in this situation, the bigger problem persists.
“Our current system is a profoundly anti-democratic system, but we ought not succumb to learned helplessness,” Pickard said. Policy decisions – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this overly commercial 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? Overhaul is a distant prospect now, but that is not to say it will not happen in the future.
Measures that strengthen independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, finance public media, and prohibit the consolidation of media power in very few hands are not only possible – they are necessary for a robust democracy.
In the world of media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations such as CNN must not be pieces in the latest corporate chess match.
