This past Thursday night, amid swirling speculation about the Brown University gunman, the network's Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, noting the confusion and guiding the public to her channel's 9pm newscast.
Although CNN is certainly not a impeccable news source, her message resonated for numerous observers. It is one of the organizations where you can find grounded and generally reliable reporting – notably during fast-moving events like the one unfolding near a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious Situation Amid a Business Battle
However CNN, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a precarious position as two huge media conglomerates vie for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the fate of CNN has become part of a major game of corporate ownership, instead of as a question of what benefits the information-seeking public.
“This represents another instance of the fundamental flaws with roots in many years of policy decisions,” said Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the Penn.
The conjecture about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a more important point.
“It gets presented as a business story with powerful individuals as the central actors, but there is hardly any discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard said.
The Additional Layer: The Former President
The CNN scenario is complicated by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his main “fake news” foe.
Think back to the chants of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his administration's retaliatory suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in press briefings.
Trump now asserts that CNN needs new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will shield him from negative coverage and examination. That is a factor in why he seems to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.
He has grounds to favor that bidder more. For one thing, it is led by David Ellison, son of the Trump-friendly Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
The company, parent of CBS News, also recently installed the conservative Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that storied news network.
A Possibility of Further Turmoil
Significantly, 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 not exactly a secure position. That structure could pave the way for CNN for yet another acquisition. The cycle continues.
According to Timothy Wu, a lot of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that competition laws should block both deals.
“Both acquisition attempts would be bad for the country, and both should be challenged by the government,” Wu argued.
The Fundamental Challenge and a Path Forward
Regardless of the resolution in this situation, the underlying crisis remains.
“The present media landscape is a very structure that undermines democracy, but we shouldn’t give in to learned helplessness,” Pickard said. Regulatory choices – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this overly commercial monster, and revised policy decisions can fix it.
Will that happen in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Change is highly improbable now, but that should not imply it will not happen in the future.
Policies that bolster independent news organizations, aid local journalism, fund public media, and prevent the accumulation of media power in very few hands are achievable – they are vital for a healthy democracy.
When it comes to media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations including CNN cannot be pieces in the newest corporate chess match.
