On Thursday evening, as rumors swirled regarding an incident at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins took to social media, pointing out the conflicting information and pointing viewers to her channel's 9pm newscast.
While CNN is certainly not a perfect news source, her words rang true for a lot of people. It remains one of the outlets where you can find reality-based and largely reliable reporting – notably during breaking news situations like the one unfolding near a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious Position Amid a Business Tug-of-War
But the news network, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a vulnerable state as two massive media empires vie for ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
No matter the result, the destiny of CNN has become part of a major game of mergers and acquisitions, instead of as a question of what serves the news-consuming public.
“Here is one more case of the fundamental flaws with origins in decades of regulatory actions,” 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? – overlooks a broader point.
“The narrative is crafted as a business story with powerful individuals as the main characters, but there is hardly any discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard added.
The Additional Element: Political Influence
This situation is further muddied by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his main “fake news” adversary.
Recall the chants of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his team's disciplinary suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in official meetings.
Trump now says that the network requires new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will shield him from journalistic oversight. That is one reason why he seems to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
Trump has reason to like that company more. For one thing, it is controlled by David Ellison, son of the Trump-friendly Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
Paramount, owner of CBS News, also recently appointed the conservative Bari Weiss, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that historic news network.
A Possibility of Further Uncertainty
It is important to note, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a separate entity. This might be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s far from a guarantee of stability. That arrangement could set up CNN for another sale. There is no finish line.
In the view of Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is illegal, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance stated that anti-trust laws should prohibit both deals.
“Each proposed deal would be harmful to the country, and both should be opposed by anti-trust authorities,” Wu recently wrote.
The Fundamental Challenge and a Potential Solution
Regardless of the resolution in this situation, the bigger problem endures.
“The present media landscape is a profoundly system hostile to democracy, but we ought not succumb to learned helplessness,” Pickard noted. Policy decisions – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this profit-obsessed monster, and different policy decisions can address it.
Will that happen in an era where the head of the FCC refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Change is highly improbable now, but that should not imply it will be impossible forever.
Measures that bolster independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, finance public media, and outlaw the concentration of media power in very few hands are within reach – they are vital for a healthy democracy.
When it comes to media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations such as CNN shouldn’t be pieces in the most recent corporate chess match.
