This past Thursday night, as rumors swirled regarding the Brown University gunman, the network's Kaitlan Collins took to social media, noting the confusion and guiding the public to her network’s 9pm newscast.
While it is by no means a flawless news source, her message resonated to many. It is one of the broadcasters where there exists grounded and mostly reliable reporting – particularly during fast-moving events such as the one developing near a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Vulnerable Situation Amid a Corporate Battle
But the news network, now middle-aged, finds itself in a vulnerable state as two huge media corporations compete 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, not as a question of what benefits the information-seeking public.
“This represents another instance of the deep structural problems with origins in many years of policy decisions,” said 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 – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a more important point.
“It is often framed as a business story with powerful individuals as the protagonists, but there is very little discussion of the common good,” Pickard said.
A Further Layer: Donald Trump
The CNN scenario is further muddied by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his chief “fake news” foe.
Recall the cries of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his team's disciplinary revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in press briefings.
Trump now claims that CNN needs new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will insulate him from journalistic oversight. That is part of why he seems to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
There is a basis to prefer that bidder more. For one thing, it is run by David Ellison, son of the ally of Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
Paramount, parent of CBS News, also recently placed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that historic news network.
A Future of More Uncertainty
Significantly, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a independent unit. That would be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a secure position. That arrangement could position CNN for yet another acquisition. The cycle continues.
According to Timothy Wu, much of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance stated that anti-trust laws should block both deals.
“Either merger would be harmful to the country, and both should be contested by the government,” Wu argued.
The Bigger Challenge and a Potential Solution
Whatever happens in this situation, the larger issue persists.
“Our current system is a profoundly system hostile to democracy, but we must resist the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard noted. Policy decisions – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this profit-obsessed monster, and new 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? Change is highly improbable now, but that doesn’t mean it will never happen.
Measures that strengthen independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, subsidize public media, and prevent the concentration of media power in too few hands are not only possible – they are necessary for a healthy democracy.
Regarding media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations like CNN must not be tools in the latest acquisition battle.
