Late Thursday, while unconfirmed reports spread regarding 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.
Although it is by no means a perfect news source, her message rang true for numerous observers. It is one of the broadcasters where you can find fact-based and largely dependable reporting – particularly during crises like the one taking place near a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious Position During a Corporate Battle
However the news network, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a uncertain position as two giant media corporations battle over ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the destiny of CNN has turned into a high-risk game of mergers and acquisitions, 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,” stated Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Pennsylvania University.
The debate about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a broader point.
“It is often framed as a corporate drama with influential figures as the protagonists, but there is hardly any discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard explained.
The Complicating Layer: Donald Trump
The network's predicament is made more complex by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his chief “fake news” adversary.
Recall the cries of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his administration's retaliatory 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. Many see this as a desire for ownership that will protect him from journalistic oversight. That is a factor in why he seems to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.
Trump has reason to favor 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 placed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that storied news network.
A Possibility of Further Uncertainty
Significantly, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a separate entity. That would be a relief to many at the network, but it’s far from a secure position. That setup could set up CNN for yet another acquisition. The cycle continues.
If you ask Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is against the law, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that anti-trust laws should disallow both deals.
“Each proposed deal would be bad for the country, and both should be challenged by anti-trust authorities,” Wu argued.
The Bigger Issue and a Path Forward
Whatever happens regarding CNN, the underlying crisis remains.
“What we have now is a highly system hostile to democracy, but we must resist a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard noted. Government actions – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this profit-obsessed monster, and different policy decisions can fix it.
Will that happen in an era where the head of the FCC refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Change is a distant prospect now, but that should not imply it will never happen.
Measures that support independent news organizations, aid local journalism, fund public media, and outlaw the concentration of media power in very few hands are within reach – they are vital for a robust democracy.
Regarding media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations including CNN cannot be pieces in the most recent acquisition battle.
