Late Thursday, amid swirling speculation about the Brown University gunman, the network's Kaitlan Collins took to social media, highlighting the uncertainty and directing people to her network’s 9pm newscast.
Although the network is hardly a flawless news source, her message resonated for a lot of people. It remains one of the organizations where there exists fact-based and largely reliable reporting – particularly during crises like the one unfolding in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious State During a Business Tug-of-War
However the news network, now 45 years old, finds itself in a precarious position as two giant media empires vie for ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
No matter the result, the destiny of CNN has turned into a major game of mergers and acquisitions, instead of as a question of what helps the news-consuming public.
“Here is one more case of the profound systemic issues with roots in many years of governmental choices,” stated Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Pennsylvania University.
The debate about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a more important point.
“The narrative is crafted as a financial tale with powerful individuals as the main characters, but there is scant discussion of the public interest,” Pickard added.
The Additional Element: Donald Trump
This situation is made more complex by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his main “fake news” adversary.
Recall the shouts 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 asserts that the network requires new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will insulate him from journalistic oversight. That is a factor in why he appears to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
Trump has reason to favor that company more. For one thing, it is led by David Ellison, son of the Trump-friendly Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
Paramount, parent of CBS News, also recently appointed the conservative Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that historic news network.
A Possibility of More Instability
It is important to note, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a standalone company. Such a move could be a relief to many at the network, but it’s far from a secure position. That arrangement could pave the way for CNN for a future sale. There is no finish line.
If you ask Timothy Wu, much of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The well-known analyst 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 contested by the government,” Wu stated.
The Fundamental Issue and a Path Forward
Whatever happens regarding CNN, the underlying crisis remains.
“What we have now is a very system hostile to democracy, but we must resist a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard emphasized. Regulatory choices – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this overly commercial monster, and revised policy decisions can address it.
Can reform occur in an era where the head of the FCC refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Reform is highly improbable now, but that doesn’t mean it will never happen.
Measures that bolster independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, subsidize public media, and outlaw the concentration of media power in a handful of hands are within reach – they are necessary for a functioning democracy.
When it comes to media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations such as CNN shouldn’t be pieces in the newest acquisition battle.
