On Thursday evening, as rumors swirled concerning an incident at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins used social media, noting the confusion and directing people to her network’s 9pm newscast.
Although the network is hardly a perfect news source, her statement resonated for numerous observers. It remains one of the organizations where you can find reality-based and mostly reliable reporting – especially during fast-moving events like the one developing close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious Position Amid a Business Battle
But CNN, now middle-aged, finds itself in a vulnerable state as two massive media empires battle over ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
Regardless of who wins, the future of CNN has been drawn into a high-stakes game of corporate ownership, rather than 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 policy decisions,” said Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Pennsylvania University.
The debate about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a larger point.
“It is often framed as a financial tale with influential figures as the main characters, but there is hardly any discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard added.
The Complicating Layer: Political Influence
The CNN scenario is further muddied by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his chief “fake news” adversary.
Remember the chants of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his administration's retaliatory revocation 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 protect him from journalistic oversight. That is part of why he seems to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.
Trump has reason to favor that company more. For one thing, it is run by David Ellison, son of the Trump-friendly Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
Paramount, owner of CBS News, also recently appointed the conservative Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that storied news network.
A Possibility of Continued Uncertainty
It is important to note, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a independent unit. That would be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a secure position. That setup could set up CNN for a future sale. It never ends.
According to Timothy Wu, much of this is illegal, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance recently argued that competition laws should disallow both deals.
“Either merger would be harmful to the country, and both should be challenged by the government,” Wu argued.
The Core Problem and a Way Ahead
Regardless of the resolution regarding CNN, the larger issue endures.
“Our current system is a profoundly structure that undermines democracy, but we ought not succumb to the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard emphasized. Policy decisions – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this profit-obsessed monster, and new policy decisions can address it.
Is this likely in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Overhaul is a distant prospect now, but that doesn’t mean it will be impossible forever.
Measures that bolster independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, subsidize public media, and prevent the concentration of media power in very few hands are not only possible – they are vital for a robust democracy.
Regarding media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations such as CNN shouldn’t be pieces in the most recent acquisition battle.
