This past Thursday night, while unconfirmed reports spread about the Brown University gunman, the network's Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, pointing out the conflicting information and directing people to her channel's 9pm newscast.
Even though CNN is certainly not a impeccable news source, her words resonated for numerous observers. It remains one of the broadcasters where there exists grounded and generally reliable reporting – notably during fast-moving events like the one unfolding close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
An Uncertain State During a Corporate Battle
Yet CNN, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a vulnerable position as two giant 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, instead of as a question of what serves the news-consuming public.
“This represents another instance of the deep structural problems with origins in decades of policy decisions,” said Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy at the University of Pennsylvania.
The speculation about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a more important point.
“It gets presented as a financial tale with powerful individuals as the protagonists, but there is very little discussion of the public interest,” Pickard explained.
A Further Element: The Former President
The CNN scenario is complicated by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his main “fake news” foe.
Remember the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his administration’s punitive withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in White House briefings.
Trump now claims that CNN needs new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will insulate him from criticism and scrutiny. That is a factor in why he seems to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.
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, parent of CBS News, also recently installed the conservative Bari Weiss, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that storied news network.
A Future of Further Turmoil
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 secure position. That structure could set up CNN for another sale. It never ends.
In the view of Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that competition laws should disallow both deals.
“Each proposed deal would be harmful to the country, and both should be challenged by the government,” Wu argued.
The Core Challenge and a Way Ahead
Whatever happens in this situation, the bigger problem persists.
“Our current system is a profoundly system hostile to democracy, but we ought not succumb to learned helplessness,” Pickard noted. Policy decisions – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this profit-obsessed 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? Reform is a distant prospect now, but that is not to say it will be impossible forever.
Initiatives that support independent news organizations, aid local journalism, fund public media, and prohibit the accumulation of media power in very few hands are within reach – they are essential for a healthy democracy.
Regarding media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations like CNN must not be pieces in the newest merger game.
