On Thursday evening, while unconfirmed reports spread concerning an incident at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, highlighting the uncertainty and pointing viewers to her network’s 9pm newscast.
Although the network is hardly a flawless news source, her message seemed accurate to many. It remains one of the organizations where you can find reality-based and generally dependable reporting – especially during breaking news situations such as the one taking place close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious Situation Amid a Business Tug-of-War
But CNN, now 45 years old, finds itself in a precarious position as two massive media corporations compete for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
No matter the result, the future of CNN has turned into a major game of business acquisition, not as a question of what serves the information-seeking public.
“Here is one more case of the profound systemic issues with origins in many years of governmental choices,” noted Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Pennsylvania University.
The conjecture about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – could it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a more important point.
“It is often framed as a corporate drama with key players as the main characters, but there is very little discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard explained.
The Additional Element: Donald Trump
The network's predicament is complicated by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his primary “fake news” adversary.
Remember the cries of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his administration’s punitive suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his clashes with Collins in press briefings.
Trump now asserts that the network requires new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will shield him from criticism and scrutiny. That is part of why he seems to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.
Trump has reason to favor that suitor more. For one thing, it is led by David Ellison, son of the pro-Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
The company, parent of CBS News, also recently installed the conservative Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that venerable news network.
A Possibility of Continued Instability
It is important to note, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a independent unit. That would 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. It never ends.
According to Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is against the law, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance recently argued that competition laws should block both deals.
“Both acquisition attempts would be detrimental to the country, and both should be challenged by regulators,” Wu stated.
The Core Problem and a Potential Solution
Whatever happens regarding CNN, the underlying crisis remains.
“What we have now is a very structure that undermines democracy, but we ought not succumb to a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard said. Policy decisions – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this hyper-commercialized monster, and new policy decisions can fix it.
Is this likely in an era where the head of the FCC refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Reform is highly improbable now, but that should not imply it will not happen in the future.
Measures that strengthen independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, finance public media, and prevent the consolidation of media power in very few hands are within reach – they are vital for a functioning democracy.
In the world of media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations including CNN shouldn’t be pawns in the most recent merger game.
