This past Thursday night, as rumors swirled about an incident at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins used social media, pointing out the conflicting information and directing people to her network’s 9pm newscast.
Even though the network is hardly a impeccable news source, her statement rang true for numerous observers. It stands as one of the outlets where one can locate fact-based and mostly trustworthy reporting – particularly during breaking news situations like the one developing close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
An Uncertain Situation Amid a Corporate Struggle
But the news network, now 45 years old, finds itself in a vulnerable position as two giant media empires compete for ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
Regardless of who wins, the future of CNN has become part of a high-stakes game of mergers and acquisitions, not as a question of what benefits the news-consuming public.
“This is yet another example of the deep structural problems with roots in many years of regulatory actions,” said Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy at the Penn.
The speculation about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – could it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a larger point.
“It is often framed as a corporate drama with key players as the protagonists, but there is hardly any discussion of the public interest,” Pickard added.
The Additional Layer: Donald Trump
The CNN scenario is complicated by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his chief “fake news” adversary.
Recall the cries of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his administration’s punitive revocation 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 insulate him from negative coverage and examination. That is part of why he appears to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
There is a basis to favor that bidder more. For one thing, it is led by David Ellison, son of the pro-Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
The company, parent 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 Possibility of More Uncertainty
Significantly, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a separate entity. That would be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s far from a guarantee of stability. That setup could set up CNN for a future sale. It never ends.
According to Timothy Wu, much of this is against the law, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance stated that competition laws should block both deals.
“Each proposed deal would be bad for the country, and both should be challenged by regulators,” Wu stated.
The Bigger Challenge and a Way Ahead
Whatever happens in this situation, the larger issue persists.
“The present media landscape is a highly anti-democratic system, but we ought not succumb to a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard emphasized. Policy decisions – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this overly commercial monster, and revised policy decisions can fix it.
Is this likely in an era where the head of the FCC refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Reform is very unlikely now, but that doesn’t mean it will never happen.
Measures that support independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, finance public media, and outlaw the concentration of media power in very few hands are not only possible – they are essential for a functioning democracy.
In the world of media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations like CNN cannot be pawns in the most recent acquisition battle.
