Late Thursday, amid swirling speculation about a shooting at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, noting the confusion and guiding the public to her network’s 9pm newscast.
While the network is hardly a impeccable news source, her words rang true for numerous observers. It remains one of the outlets where one can locate fact-based and mostly trustworthy reporting – especially during fast-moving events such as the one taking place in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious Position During a High-Stakes Tug-of-War
But CNN, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a precarious situation as two huge media corporations battle over ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Regardless of who wins, the destiny of CNN has been drawn into a major game of business acquisition, instead of as a question of what benefits the information-seeking public.
“Here is one more case of the deep structural problems with roots in decades of governmental choices,” said Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the Pennsylvania University.
The speculation about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a larger point.
“The narrative is crafted as a corporate drama with powerful individuals as the main characters, but there is hardly any discussion of the common good,” Pickard added.
A Further Factor: Political Influence
This situation is further muddied by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his main “fake news” adversary.
Remember the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his team's disciplinary revocation 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. Many see this as a desire for ownership that will insulate him from negative coverage and examination. That is a factor in why he seems to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.
There is a basis to like that bidder more. For one thing, it is controlled by David Ellison, son of the Trump-friendly Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
The company, owner of CBS News, also recently installed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that historic news network.
A Possibility of Further Instability
Significantly, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a standalone company. Such a move could be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s hardly a secure position. That arrangement could pave the way for CNN for another sale. The cycle continues.
According to Timothy Wu, much of this is against the law, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance stated that anti-trust laws should prohibit both deals.
“Each proposed deal would be harmful to the country, and both should be opposed by the government,” Wu recently wrote.
The Core Problem and a Path Forward
No matter the outcome with this particular battle, the underlying crisis remains.
“The present media landscape is a very structure that undermines democracy, but we must resist the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard emphasized. Regulatory choices – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this overly commercial monster, and revised policy decisions can tackle it.
Can reform occur in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair will not confirm that the agency is independent? Change is very unlikely now, but that should not imply it will never happen.
Measures that bolster independent news organizations, aid local journalism, fund public media, and prohibit the accumulation of media power in too few hands are not only possible – they are necessary for a robust democracy.
When it comes to media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations including CNN cannot be pieces in the most recent acquisition battle.
