This past Thursday night, as rumors swirled concerning an incident at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, highlighting the uncertainty and pointing viewers to her channel's 9pm newscast.
Although the network is hardly a impeccable news source, her statement rang true for a lot of people. It is one of the organizations where one can locate reality-based and largely dependable reporting – especially during breaking news situations such as the one taking place close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious Situation During a High-Stakes Battle
Yet the news network, now 45 years old, finds itself in a uncertain position as two huge media conglomerates vie for ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the destiny of CNN has become part of a major game of business acquisition, instead of as a question of what serves the news-consuming public.
“This represents another instance of the fundamental flaws with roots in decades of governmental choices,” said Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the Penn.
The speculation about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a more important point.
“The narrative is crafted as a financial tale with powerful individuals as the main characters, but there is hardly any discussion of the common good,” Pickard said.
A Further Factor: 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 main “fake news” foe.
Recall the chants of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his team's disciplinary withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in White House briefings.
Trump now claims that CNN needs new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will shield him from negative coverage and examination. That is one reason why he appears to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
He has grounds to prefer that bidder 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, parent of CBS News, also recently placed the conservative Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that historic news network.
An Outcome of Further Turmoil
Notably, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a standalone company. Such a move could be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a secure position. That setup could position CNN for yet another acquisition. There is no finish line.
According to Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that anti-trust laws should disallow both deals.
“Either merger would be harmful to the country, and both should be opposed by anti-trust authorities,” Wu recently wrote.
The Fundamental Problem and a Potential Solution
Regardless of the resolution with this particular battle, the underlying crisis endures.
“What we have now is a highly anti-democratic system, but we must resist the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard emphasized. Regulatory choices – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this profit-obsessed monster, and different policy decisions can address it.
Will that happen in an era where the top communications regulator will not confirm that the agency is independent? Change is highly improbable now, but that should not imply it will never happen.
Policies that strengthen independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, fund public media, and prevent the concentration of media power in too few hands are not only possible – they are necessary for a functioning democracy.
In the world of media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations such as CNN shouldn’t be tools in the most recent acquisition battle.
