Late Thursday, as rumors swirled about the Brown University gunman, the network's Kaitlan Collins took to social media, highlighting the uncertainty and guiding the public to her channel's 9pm newscast.
Although the network is hardly a flawless news source, her statement resonated for numerous observers. It remains one of the organizations where you can find reality-based and largely reliable reporting – notably during crises like the one unfolding close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious State Amid a Corporate Tug-of-War
Yet the news network, now middle-aged, finds itself in a vulnerable position as two massive media corporations vie for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
No matter the result, the destiny of CNN has turned into a major game of mergers and acquisitions, not as a question of what helps the news-consuming public.
“This is yet another example of the deep structural problems with roots in decades of regulatory actions,” stated Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Penn.
The speculation about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – could it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a more important point.
“It gets presented as a corporate drama with influential figures as the central actors, but there is hardly any discussion of the common good,” Pickard explained.
The Complicating Factor: Political Influence
The network's predicament is made more complex by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his primary “fake news” foe.
Remember the chants of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his team's disciplinary suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in White House briefings.
Trump now says that CNN needs new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will shield him from criticism and scrutiny. That is one reason why he appears to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.
Trump has reason to favor that company more. For one thing, it is run by David Ellison, son of the pro-Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
The company, owner of CBS News, also recently installed the conservative Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that venerable news network.
A Possibility of Further Instability
It is important to note, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a independent unit. That would be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a guarantee of stability. That structure could position CNN for a future sale. The cycle continues.
According to Timothy Wu, much of this is illegal, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that anti-trust laws should block both deals.
“Both acquisition attempts would be bad for the country, and both should be contested by regulators,” Wu recently wrote.
The Fundamental Challenge and a Potential Solution
Whatever happens with this particular battle, the bigger problem endures.
“The present media landscape is a highly system hostile to democracy, but we shouldn’t give in to the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard said. Regulatory choices – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this hyper-commercialized monster, and revised policy decisions can tackle it.
Is this likely in an era where the top communications regulator refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Change is a distant prospect now, but that is not to say it will never happen.
Policies that support independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, subsidize public media, and outlaw the accumulation of media power in too few hands are within reach – they are essential for a healthy democracy.
Regarding media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations such as CNN cannot be pawns in the latest corporate chess match.
