On Thursday evening, amid swirling speculation about the Brown University gunman, the network's Kaitlan Collins took to social media, highlighting the uncertainty and pointing viewers to her channel's 9pm newscast.
Although it is by no means a impeccable news source, her words resonated to many. It remains one of the outlets where there exists fact-based and mostly trustworthy reporting – especially during fast-moving events like the one taking place near a New Hampshire storage facility.
An Uncertain Position Amid a Business Tug-of-War
But the news network, now 45 years old, finds itself in a uncertain position as two giant media conglomerates battle over ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the fate of CNN has been drawn into a high-risk game of mergers and acquisitions, instead of as a question of what benefits the news-consuming public.
“This is yet another example of the deep structural problems with roots in decades of regulatory actions,” stated Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the University of Pennsylvania.
The speculation about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a broader point.
“The narrative is crafted as a business story with powerful individuals as the central actors, but there is hardly any discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard explained.
The Additional Layer: The Former President
This situation is further muddied by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his main “fake news” antagonist.
Think back to the cries of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his team's disciplinary withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his clashes with Collins in White House briefings.
Trump now claims that CNN needs new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will insulate him from negative coverage and examination. That is a factor in why he appears to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.
There is a basis to like that suitor more. For one thing, it is led by David Ellison, son of the ally of Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
Paramount, parent of CBS News, also recently placed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that venerable news network.
A Future of Continued Turmoil
It is important to note, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a separate entity. Such a move could be a relief 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 great deal of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that anti-trust laws should disallow both deals.
“Either merger would be harmful to the country, and both should be opposed by the government,” Wu recently wrote.
The Core Issue and a Potential Solution
Whatever happens regarding CNN, the underlying crisis persists.
“The present media landscape is a very system hostile to democracy, but we must resist a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard said. Regulatory choices – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this overly commercial monster, and revised policy decisions can fix it.
Can reform occur in an era where the top communications regulator will not confirm that the agency is independent? Change is very unlikely now, but that should not imply it will not happen in the future.
Measures that strengthen independent news organizations, aid local journalism, subsidize public media, and prohibit the concentration of media power in very few hands are achievable – they are vital for a robust democracy.
Regarding media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations such as CNN cannot be pawns in the latest corporate chess match.
