Late Thursday, while unconfirmed reports spread regarding the Brown University gunman, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, highlighting the uncertainty and directing people to her channel's 9pm newscast.
While the network is hardly a perfect news source, her message seemed accurate to many. It is one of the outlets where there exists fact-based and largely reliable reporting – especially during crises like the one developing near a New Hampshire storage facility.
An Uncertain State Amid a High-Stakes Battle
However the news network, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a uncertain position as two huge media corporations battle over ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Regardless of who wins, the future of CNN has become part of a high-risk game of mergers and acquisitions, 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 policy decisions,” stated Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the Penn.
The speculation about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – could it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a more important point.
“The narrative is crafted as a business story with key players as the main characters, but there is scant discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard added.
The Complicating Factor: The Former President
The network's predicament is made more complex by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his main “fake news” antagonist.
Think back to the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his administration’s punitive suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his clashes with Collins in press briefings.
Trump now says that CNN needs new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will shield him from criticism and scrutiny. That is one reason why he seems to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
There is a basis to favor that suitor more. For one thing, it is led by David Ellison, son of the ally of Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
Paramount, owner of CBS News, also recently appointed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that historic news network.
An Outcome of Further Turmoil
It is important to note, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a independent unit. That would be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s hardly a guarantee of stability. That setup could set up CNN for yet another acquisition. There is no finish line.
According to Timothy Wu, a lot of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance stated that competition laws should disallow both deals.
“Either merger would be bad for the country, and both should be opposed by regulators,” Wu recently wrote.
The Core Problem and a Potential Solution
Whatever happens regarding CNN, the underlying crisis endures.
“The present media landscape is a very system hostile to democracy, but we shouldn’t give in to a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard emphasized. Government actions – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this overly commercial monster, and new policy decisions can address it.
Can reform occur in an era where the top communications regulator will not confirm that the agency is independent? Overhaul is very unlikely now, but that should not imply it will be impossible forever.
Initiatives that support independent news organizations, aid local journalism, subsidize public media, and prohibit the concentration of media power in very few hands are achievable – they are vital for a robust democracy.
In the world of media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations like CNN must not be pawns in the latest acquisition battle.
