On Thursday evening, as rumors swirled about an incident at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins used social media, pointing out the conflicting information and pointing viewers to her network’s 9pm newscast.
Even though the network is hardly a perfect news source, her words resonated to many. It stands as one of the broadcasters where you can find fact-based and largely dependable reporting – particularly during crises such as the one unfolding close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious State During a High-Stakes Battle
But CNN, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a precarious state as two huge media conglomerates vie for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the future of CNN has been drawn into a high-risk game of corporate ownership, instead of as a question of what benefits the news-consuming public.
“Here is one more case of the fundamental flaws with roots in many years of policy decisions,” said Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the Penn.
The debate about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a larger point.
“It is often framed as a business story with powerful individuals as the protagonists, but there is scant discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard added.
The Complicating Element: The Former President
The network's predicament is further muddied by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his primary “fake news” adversary.
Think back to the cries of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his team's disciplinary withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in press briefings.
Trump now says that the network requires new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will shield him from negative coverage and examination. That is part of why he seems to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.
Trump has reason to favor that suitor more. For one thing, it is controlled by David Ellison, son of the pro-Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
The company, 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 Future of Continued Uncertainty
Significantly, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a standalone company. That would be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s hardly a safe harbor. That arrangement could position CNN for another sale. There is no finish line.
According to Timothy Wu, a lot of this is against the law, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that anti-trust laws should disallow both deals.
“Each proposed deal would be harmful to the country, and both should be opposed by regulators,” Wu stated.
The Core Challenge and a Potential Solution
Whatever happens in this situation, the bigger problem endures.
“What we have now is a highly system hostile to democracy, but we ought not succumb to learned helplessness,” Pickard emphasized. Regulatory choices – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this profit-obsessed monster, and new policy decisions can tackle it.
Is this likely in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Change is highly improbable now, but that doesn’t mean it will not happen in the future.
Initiatives that support independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, fund public media, and prevent the accumulation of media power in a handful of hands are achievable – they are essential for a functioning democracy.
When it comes to media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations such as CNN shouldn’t be pawns in the newest acquisition battle.
