This past Thursday night, while unconfirmed reports spread about the Brown University gunman, the network's Kaitlan Collins took to social media, noting the confusion and directing people to her network’s 9pm newscast.
Although the network is hardly a perfect news source, her words resonated to many. It stands as one of the outlets where there exists reality-based and generally reliable reporting – particularly during crises such as the one developing close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious Situation Amid a Corporate Struggle
But the news network, now middle-aged, finds itself in a vulnerable state as two giant media empires compete for ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
Regardless of who wins, the fate of CNN has become part of a high-stakes game of mergers and acquisitions, instead of as a question of what benefits the information-seeking public.
“Here is one more case of the fundamental flaws with origins in many years of governmental choices,” noted Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Pennsylvania University.
The speculation about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a broader point.
“It gets presented as a corporate drama with powerful individuals as the protagonists, but there is very little discussion of the public interest,” Pickard said.
The Additional Element: The Former President
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” antagonist.
Think back to the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his team's disciplinary suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his clashes with Collins in official meetings.
Trump now claims that the network requires new ownership. Many see this as a desire for ownership that will insulate him from negative coverage and examination. That is one reason why he seems to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
Trump has reason to favor that bidder 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 appointed the conservative Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that storied news network.
A Future of Continued Uncertainty
Significantly, if Netflix wins, 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 hardly a guarantee of stability. That structure could position CNN for yet another acquisition. The cycle continues.
In the view of Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is against the law, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance stated that anti-trust laws should prohibit both deals.
“Both acquisition attempts would be detrimental to the country, and both should be challenged by regulators,” Wu recently wrote.
The Core Issue and a Path Forward
Whatever happens regarding CNN, the bigger problem persists.
“Our current system is a highly anti-democratic system, but we must resist learned helplessness,” Pickard said. Regulatory choices – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this overly commercial monster, and different policy decisions can address it.
Will that happen in an era where the head of the FCC will not confirm that the agency is independent? Overhaul is highly improbable now, but that is not to say it will not happen in the future.
Initiatives that strengthen independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, fund public media, and outlaw the concentration of media power in too few hands are not only possible – they are essential for a robust democracy.
In the world of media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations like CNN must not be pieces in the most recent corporate chess match.
