This past Thursday night, while unconfirmed reports spread regarding the Brown University gunman, the network's Kaitlan Collins took to social media, noting the confusion and pointing viewers to her channel's 9pm newscast.
Although CNN is certainly not a flawless news source, her statement resonated for numerous observers. It stands as one of the organizations where you can find reality-based and generally dependable reporting – notably during breaking news situations such as the one taking place near a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Vulnerable Situation During a Business Struggle
Yet the news network, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a vulnerable situation as two giant media corporations battle over ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
Regardless of who wins, the future of CNN has been drawn into a high-risk game of corporate ownership, not as a question of what benefits the information-seeking public.
“This represents another instance of the profound systemic issues with roots in decades of governmental choices,” noted Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy at the Penn.
The speculation about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a more important point.
“It is often framed as a business story with powerful individuals as the main characters, but there is scant discussion of the public interest,” Pickard said.
The Additional Factor: The Former President
The CNN scenario is complicated by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his chief “fake news” foe.
Think back to the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his team's disciplinary withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his clashes with Collins in press briefings.
Trump now says that the network requires new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will insulate him from criticism and scrutiny. That is a factor in why he appears to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
He has grounds to prefer that suitor more. For one thing, it is led by David Ellison, son of the ally of Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
The company, owner of CBS News, also recently installed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that historic news network.
A Possibility of Further Turmoil
Notably, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a standalone company. That would be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a safe harbor. That setup could pave the way for CNN for yet another acquisition. It never ends.
According to Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is illegal, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance recently argued that anti-trust laws should disallow both deals.
“Each proposed deal would be harmful to the country, and both should be opposed by anti-trust authorities,” Wu recently wrote.
The Core Challenge and a Way Ahead
No matter the outcome with this particular battle, the larger issue persists.
“Our current system is a very structure that undermines democracy, but we must resist a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard noted. Policy decisions – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this hyper-commercialized monster, and revised policy decisions can tackle it.
Will that happen in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Change is highly improbable now, but that is not to say it will never happen.
Measures that support independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, finance public media, and prohibit the consolidation of media power in a handful of hands are achievable – they are essential for a healthy democracy.
In the world of media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations like CNN shouldn’t be pieces in the most recent merger game.
