Late Thursday, while unconfirmed reports spread concerning a shooting at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins took to social media, highlighting the uncertainty and pointing viewers to her channel's 9pm newscast.
While the network is hardly a impeccable news source, her message rang true to many. It remains one of the organizations where one can locate fact-based and largely trustworthy reporting – particularly during fast-moving events like the one unfolding close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious Situation During a High-Stakes Battle
However the news network, now 45 years old, finds itself in a uncertain state as two massive media corporations compete for ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
Regardless of who wins, the future of CNN has become part of a high-stakes game of corporate ownership, rather than as a question of what serves the news-consuming public.
“This is yet another example of the profound systemic issues with origins in many years of governmental choices,” noted Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy at the University of Pennsylvania.
The speculation about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a larger point.
“It gets presented as a corporate drama with powerful individuals as the main characters, but there is scant discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard explained.
The Complicating Element: Donald Trump
The network's predicament is further muddied by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his main “fake news” antagonist.
Think back to the chants of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his team's disciplinary revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his clashes with Collins in White House briefings.
Trump now asserts that CNN needs new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will insulate him from journalistic oversight. That is part of why he appears to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
He has grounds to prefer that suitor more. For one thing, it is run by David Ellison, son of the Trump-friendly Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
Paramount, parent of CBS News, also recently installed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that historic news network.
An Outcome of Continued Instability
It is important to note, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a independent unit. Such a move could be a relief to many at the network, but it’s far from a secure position. That structure could set up CNN for a future sale. The cycle continues.
According to Timothy Wu, a lot of this is illegal, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance stated that anti-trust laws should prohibit both deals.
“Both acquisition attempts would be harmful to the country, and both should be opposed by anti-trust authorities,” Wu stated.
The Fundamental Problem and a Way Ahead
Whatever happens regarding CNN, the larger issue endures.
“What we have now is a very structure that undermines democracy, but we must resist learned helplessness,” Pickard said. Regulatory choices – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this hyper-commercialized monster, and new policy decisions can address it.
Can reform occur in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Change is a distant prospect now, but that doesn’t mean it will not happen in the future.
Measures that strengthen independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, fund public media, and prevent the consolidation of media power in very few hands are within reach – they are vital for a healthy democracy.
When it comes to media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations such as CNN cannot be pieces in the latest corporate chess match.
