On Thursday evening, while unconfirmed reports spread about a shooting 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.
Although CNN is certainly not a flawless news source, her message resonated to many. It stands as one of the broadcasters where one can locate grounded and mostly trustworthy reporting – notably during fast-moving events like the one taking place close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious Situation Amid a High-Stakes Battle
However CNN, now 45 years old, finds itself in a vulnerable state as two giant media empires battle over ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the future of CNN has become part of a high-stakes game of mergers and acquisitions, instead of as a question of what helps the news-consuming public.
“This represents another instance of the fundamental flaws with roots in many years of regulatory actions,” stated Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy at the Pennsylvania University.
The debate about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a broader point.
“The narrative is crafted as a corporate drama with influential figures as the protagonists, but there is scant discussion of the public interest,” Pickard added.
The Complicating Factor: The Former President
The CNN scenario is made more complex by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his chief “fake news” adversary.
Recall the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his team's disciplinary withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in White House briefings.
Trump now asserts that CNN needs new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will protect him from criticism and scrutiny. That is a factor in why he appears to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
He has grounds to like that suitor 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, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that storied news network.
A Possibility of Continued Instability
It is important to note, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a separate entity. This might be a relief to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a secure position. That arrangement could position CNN for a future sale. There is no finish line.
According to Timothy Wu, much of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance stated that competition laws should disallow both deals.
“Either merger would be harmful to the country, and both should be contested by anti-trust authorities,” Wu stated.
The Core Issue and a Potential Solution
Regardless of the resolution in this situation, the larger issue persists.
“What we have now is a very structure that undermines democracy, but we ought not succumb to a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard emphasized. Policy decisions – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this profit-obsessed monster, and new policy decisions can tackle it.
Will that happen in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair will not confirm that the agency is independent? Change is a distant prospect now, but that doesn’t mean it will not happen in the future.
Policies that strengthen independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, finance public media, and prevent the accumulation of media power in too few hands are not only possible – they are vital for a functioning democracy.
In the world of media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations such as CNN cannot be tools in the newest merger game.
