This past Thursday night, while unconfirmed reports spread concerning the Brown University gunman, the network's Kaitlan Collins took to social media, noting the confusion and pointing viewers to her channel's 9pm newscast.
Although CNN is certainly not a impeccable news source, her words resonated to many. It remains one of the outlets where there exists reality-based and mostly reliable reporting – notably during crises like the one unfolding close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious Position During a Business Struggle
Yet the news network, now 45 years old, finds itself in a uncertain state as two huge media conglomerates vie for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the fate of CNN has turned into a high-risk game of mergers and acquisitions, rather than as a question of what serves the information-seeking public.
“This is yet another example of the deep structural problems with roots in decades of policy decisions,” stated Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the University of Pennsylvania.
The debate about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a more important point.
“It is often framed as a business story with key players as the protagonists, but there is hardly any discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard said.
The Additional Element: Donald Trump
The network's predicament is made more complex by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his main “fake news” foe.
Think back to the chants of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his administration's retaliatory withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in White House briefings.
Trump now says that the network requires new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will protect him from criticism and scrutiny. That is one reason why he seems to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.
He has grounds to favor that company 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 installed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that historic news network.
A Future of Continued Turmoil
Significantly, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a separate entity. Such a move could be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a guarantee of stability. That setup could set up CNN for another sale. There is no finish line.
If you ask Timothy Wu, a lot of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance stated that competition laws should disallow both deals.
“Both acquisition attempts would be bad for the country, and both should be contested by regulators,” Wu stated.
The Fundamental Problem and a Way Ahead
No matter the outcome in this situation, the underlying crisis persists.
“Our current system is a profoundly anti-democratic system, but we shouldn’t give in to the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard said. Regulatory choices – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this overly commercial monster, and different policy decisions can tackle it.
Is this likely in an era where the head of the FCC won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Overhaul is highly improbable now, but that doesn’t mean it will be impossible forever.
Policies that support independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, fund public media, and prevent the accumulation of media power in too few hands are achievable – they are necessary for a robust democracy.
In the world of media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations including CNN cannot be pieces in the latest acquisition battle.
