On Thursday evening, while unconfirmed reports spread about the Brown University gunman, the network's Kaitlan Collins used social media, noting the confusion and pointing viewers to her network’s 9pm newscast.
While the network is hardly a perfect news source, her words seemed accurate for a lot of people. It is one of the outlets where one can locate reality-based and mostly reliable reporting – notably during breaking news situations such as the one taking place in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.
An Uncertain State Amid a Corporate Struggle
However CNN, now 45 years old, finds itself in a uncertain position as two giant media conglomerates vie for ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
Regardless of who wins, the fate of CNN has turned into a high-stakes game of business acquisition, instead of as a question of what benefits the news-consuming public.
“Here is one more case of the deep structural problems with origins in many years of governmental choices,” said Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the Penn.
The speculation about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a larger point.
“It is often framed as a business story with powerful individuals as the central actors, but there is scant discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard said.
The Additional Factor: The Former President
This situation is further muddied by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his primary “fake news” foe.
Recall the chants of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his administration's retaliatory revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring 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 criticism and scrutiny. That is part of why he seems to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.
He has grounds to like that company more. For one thing, it is controlled by David Ellison, son of the ally of Trump 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 storied news network.
A Future of Further Instability
Significantly, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a separate entity. Such a move could be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s far from a guarantee of stability. That structure could position CNN for yet another acquisition. It never ends.
If you ask Timothy Wu, a lot of this is against the law, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance stated that competition laws should prohibit both deals.
“Each proposed deal would be bad for the country, and both should be opposed by anti-trust authorities,” Wu recently wrote.
The Fundamental Issue and a Potential Solution
Regardless of the resolution in this situation, the bigger problem endures.
“Our current system is a highly system hostile to democracy, but we must resist learned helplessness,” Pickard noted. Government actions – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this profit-obsessed monster, and new policy decisions can address it.
Can reform occur in an era where the top communications regulator refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Change is very unlikely now, but that doesn’t mean it will never happen.
Policies that strengthen independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, fund public media, and prohibit the accumulation of media power in a handful of hands are not only possible – they are essential for a robust democracy.
When it comes to media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations including CNN cannot be pieces in the latest corporate chess match.
