This past Thursday night, as rumors swirled regarding an incident at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins took to social media, pointing out the conflicting information and directing people to her network’s 9pm newscast.
Even though the network is hardly a perfect news source, her words seemed accurate to many. It is one of the outlets where one can locate reality-based and mostly trustworthy reporting – especially during crises such as the one developing close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Vulnerable State Amid a Corporate Struggle
But CNN, now 45 years old, finds itself in a vulnerable state as two giant media conglomerates battle over ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the future of CNN has been drawn into a major game of corporate ownership, rather than as a question of what serves the news-consuming public.
“This represents another instance of the deep structural problems with roots in decades of policy decisions,” said Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the Penn.
The speculation about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – could it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a broader point.
“The narrative is crafted as a corporate drama with powerful individuals as the main characters, but there is very little discussion of the common good,” Pickard explained.
The Complicating Element: Donald Trump
The CNN scenario is made more complex by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his primary “fake news” adversary.
Remember the chants of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his administration's retaliatory withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his clashes with Collins in White House briefings.
Trump now claims 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 appears to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
There is a basis to prefer that company more. For one thing, it is controlled by David Ellison, son of the ally of Trump 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 lead editor of that historic news network.
A Future of Further Turmoil
Significantly, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a independent unit. This might be a relief to many at the network, but it’s far from a guarantee of stability. That setup could set up CNN for yet another acquisition. There is no finish line.
In the view of 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 block both deals.
“Both acquisition attempts would be harmful to the country, and both should be challenged by regulators,” Wu argued.
The Bigger Challenge and a Path Forward
Regardless of the resolution regarding CNN, the bigger problem endures.
“The present media landscape is a very system hostile to democracy, but we shouldn’t give in to learned helplessness,” Pickard emphasized. Government actions – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this overly commercial monster, and new policy decisions can fix it.
Can reform occur in an era where the top communications regulator won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Reform is very unlikely now, but that should not imply it will not happen in the future.
Initiatives that strengthen independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, subsidize public media, and prevent the accumulation of media power in a handful of hands are achievable – they are essential for a healthy democracy.
In the world of media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations including CNN cannot be tools in the newest merger game.
