On Thursday evening, while unconfirmed reports spread regarding an incident at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins took to social media, highlighting the uncertainty and guiding the public to her network’s 9pm newscast.
Even though it is by no means a flawless news source, her statement rang true for a lot of people. It is one of the outlets where one can locate fact-based and generally reliable reporting – notably during breaking news situations such as the one taking place close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Vulnerable Position Amid a Corporate Tug-of-War
However the news network, now middle-aged, finds itself in a precarious situation as two massive media corporations battle over ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Regardless of who wins, the fate of CNN has become part of a high-stakes game of corporate ownership, rather than as a question of what benefits the information-seeking public.
“This is yet another example of the profound systemic issues with origins in decades of governmental choices,” noted Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the University of Pennsylvania.
The conjecture about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – could it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a larger point.
“The narrative is crafted as a business story with key players as the central actors, but there is very little discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard explained.
A Further Factor: The Former President
The CNN scenario is made more complex by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his chief “fake news” antagonist.
Remember the chants of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his administration's retaliatory withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in White House briefings.
Trump now asserts that CNN needs new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will shield him from negative coverage and examination. That is a factor in why he appears to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.
There is a basis to like that company 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 editor-in-chief of that historic news network.
A Future of Continued Uncertainty
Significantly, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a separate entity. Such a move could be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s far from a guarantee of stability. That structure could position CNN for another sale. There is no finish line.
In the view of Timothy Wu, much of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance stated that anti-trust laws should block both deals.
“Both acquisition attempts would be harmful to the country, and both should be opposed by anti-trust authorities,” Wu argued.
The Core Issue and a Potential Solution
Whatever happens regarding CNN, the underlying crisis endures.
“The present media landscape is a profoundly structure that undermines democracy, but we must resist a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard noted. Regulatory choices – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this profit-obsessed monster, and new policy decisions can fix it.
Can reform occur in an era where the head of the FCC won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Change is a distant prospect now, but that doesn’t mean it will never happen.
Policies that support independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, finance public media, and prevent the concentration of media power in a handful of hands are within reach – they are vital for a robust democracy.
Regarding media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations including CNN cannot be pieces in the most recent acquisition battle.
