Late Thursday, amid swirling speculation regarding a shooting at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins used social media, pointing out the conflicting information and directing people to her channel's 9pm newscast.
Even though it is by no means a impeccable news source, her words seemed accurate for numerous observers. It stands as one of the outlets where you can find reality-based and mostly reliable reporting – especially during fast-moving events like the one taking place near a New Hampshire storage facility.
An Uncertain Situation Amid a High-Stakes Struggle
However the news network, now 45 years old, finds itself in a precarious situation as two huge media corporations battle over ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
No matter the result, the fate of CNN has become part of a high-stakes game of business acquisition, not as a question of what helps the information-seeking public.
“This represents another instance of the fundamental flaws with roots in decades of policy decisions,” said Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the University of Pennsylvania.
The debate about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a more important point.
“It is often framed as a corporate drama with powerful individuals as the central actors, but there is scant discussion of the common good,” Pickard explained.
A Further Layer: The Former President
The network's predicament is complicated by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his main “fake news” foe.
Recall the cries of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his administration's retaliatory withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in press briefings.
Trump now claims that the network requires new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will protect him from journalistic oversight. That is one reason why he appears to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.
He has grounds to favor that suitor more. For one thing, it is run by David Ellison, son of the pro-Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
Paramount, owner of CBS News, also recently appointed the conservative Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that storied news network.
A Future of More Instability
Notably, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a separate entity. That would be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a guarantee of stability. That setup could pave the way for CNN for another sale. The cycle continues.
If you ask Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance recently argued that competition laws should disallow both deals.
“Each proposed deal would be detrimental to the country, and both should be opposed by regulators,” Wu stated.
The Fundamental Problem and a Potential Solution
Regardless of the resolution regarding CNN, the bigger problem persists.
“The present media landscape is a profoundly anti-democratic system, but we shouldn’t give in to the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard emphasized. Government actions – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this hyper-commercialized monster, and revised policy decisions can fix it.
Is this likely in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Reform 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 prohibit the consolidation of media power in too few hands are achievable – they are necessary for a functioning democracy.
When it comes to media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations like CNN cannot be pieces in the latest acquisition battle.
