This past Thursday night, amid swirling speculation regarding an incident at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins took to social media, highlighting the uncertainty and directing people to her channel's 9pm newscast.
Even though the network is hardly a impeccable news source, her message seemed accurate for numerous observers. It stands as one of the broadcasters where there exists reality-based and mostly dependable reporting – particularly during breaking news situations like the one unfolding near a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Vulnerable Position During a Business Battle
But CNN, now 45 years old, finds itself in a vulnerable situation as two massive media conglomerates battle over ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the future of CNN has become part of a high-stakes game of mergers and acquisitions, rather than as a question of what benefits the news-consuming public.
“This is yet another example of the fundamental flaws with origins in decades of regulatory actions,” said Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy at the Pennsylvania University.
The debate about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – could it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a broader point.
“The narrative is crafted as a business story with key players as the main characters, but there is very little discussion of the public interest,” Pickard added.
The Additional Layer: Political Influence
This situation is complicated by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his main “fake news” adversary.
Remember the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his administration's retaliatory revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his clashes with Collins in official meetings.
Trump now claims that CNN needs new ownership. Many see this as a desire for ownership that will insulate him from negative coverage and examination. That is part of why he seems to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
Trump has reason to favor that bidder 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 placed the conservative Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that historic news network.
A Possibility of More Instability
Notably, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a separate entity. This might be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s far from a safe harbor. That arrangement could pave the way for CNN for a future sale. It never ends.
In the view of Timothy Wu, much of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that anti-trust laws should disallow both deals.
“Each proposed deal would be bad for the country, and both should be contested by the government,” Wu stated.
The Core Issue and a Path Forward
No matter the outcome with this particular battle, the bigger problem endures.
“The present media landscape is a profoundly structure that undermines democracy, but we ought not succumb to learned helplessness,” Pickard emphasized. Policy decisions – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this hyper-commercialized monster, and different policy decisions can address it.
Is this likely in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair will not confirm that the agency is independent? Reform is highly improbable now, but that is not to say it will never happen.
Measures that bolster independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, finance public media, and outlaw the concentration of media power in a handful of hands are within reach – they are vital for a functioning democracy.
In the world of media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations like CNN must not be tools in the newest merger game.
