This past Thursday night, while unconfirmed reports spread regarding 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.
Even though the network is hardly a flawless news source, her message rang true to many. It remains one of the broadcasters where you can find grounded and mostly trustworthy reporting – particularly during fast-moving events such as the one taking place near a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Vulnerable Position During a Corporate Tug-of-War
Yet CNN, now middle-aged, finds itself in a vulnerable state as two massive media corporations compete for ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the fate of CNN has turned into a high-risk game of business acquisition, rather than as a question of what helps the news-consuming public.
“This represents another instance of the profound systemic issues with roots in many years of governmental choices,” noted Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Penn.
The conjecture about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a more important point.
“It is often framed as a financial tale with key players as the protagonists, but there is very little discussion of the common good,” Pickard explained.
The Complicating Layer: Political Influence
The network's predicament is further muddied by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his chief “fake news” foe.
Recall the chants of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his team's disciplinary revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his clashes with Collins in official meetings.
Trump now asserts that CNN needs new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will shield him from criticism and scrutiny. That is part of why he seems to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.
Trump has reason to like 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, parent of CBS News, also recently appointed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that venerable news network.
A Possibility of More Turmoil
Notably, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a standalone company. This might be a relief to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a safe harbor. That structure could pave the way for CNN for another sale. There is no finish line.
If you ask Timothy Wu, a lot of this is against the law, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance recently argued that competition laws should prohibit both deals.
“Each proposed deal would be bad for the country, and both should be challenged by anti-trust authorities,” Wu stated.
The Core Problem and a Potential Solution
Whatever happens in this situation, the bigger problem persists.
“Our current system is a profoundly anti-democratic system, but we shouldn’t give in to a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard said. Regulatory choices – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this overly commercial monster, and new policy decisions can fix it.
Is this likely in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Change is very unlikely now, but that doesn’t mean it will never happen.
Policies that bolster independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, finance public media, and prevent the accumulation of media power in a handful of hands are within reach – they are vital for a healthy democracy.
Regarding media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations like CNN cannot be tools in the most recent acquisition battle.
