This past Thursday night, while unconfirmed reports spread concerning the Brown University gunman, the network's Kaitlan Collins used social media, highlighting the uncertainty and directing people to her channel's 9pm newscast.
Although it is by no means a flawless news source, her message seemed accurate to many. It stands as one of the outlets where one can locate grounded and generally trustworthy reporting – especially during breaking news situations like the one unfolding near a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Vulnerable State During a Corporate Battle
However CNN, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a vulnerable state as two giant media conglomerates battle over ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the destiny of CNN has been drawn into a high-risk game of mergers and acquisitions, rather than as a question of what benefits the news-consuming public.
“This represents another instance of the deep structural problems with roots in decades of policy decisions,” stated Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Penn.
The conjecture about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – could it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a broader point.
“The narrative is crafted as a financial tale with key players as the protagonists, but there is very little discussion of the common good,” Pickard said.
The Additional Element: Donald Trump
This situation is further muddied by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his main “fake news” adversary.
Recall the cries of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his administration’s punitive withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in official meetings.
Trump now asserts 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 come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.
Trump has reason to prefer that suitor more. For one thing, it is led by David Ellison, son of the ally of Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
Paramount, parent of CBS News, also recently placed the conservative Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that storied news network.
A Future of More Turmoil
Notably, 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 not exactly a guarantee of stability. That setup could set up CNN for another sale. The cycle continues.
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 disallow both deals.
“Either merger would be bad for the country, and both should be challenged by regulators,” Wu stated.
The Fundamental Challenge and a Potential Solution
Regardless of the resolution regarding CNN, the bigger problem remains.
“The present media landscape is a very anti-democratic system, but we must resist learned helplessness,” Pickard said. Government actions – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this overly commercial monster, and new policy decisions can tackle it.
Is this likely in an era where the top communications regulator refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Change is a distant prospect now, but that should not imply it will be impossible forever.
Initiatives that support independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, subsidize public media, and prohibit the consolidation of media power in very few hands are achievable – they are vital for a healthy democracy.
When it comes to media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations such as CNN must not be pawns in the newest corporate chess match.
