On Thursday evening, amid swirling speculation concerning an incident at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, highlighting the uncertainty and guiding the public to her channel's 9pm newscast.
While it is by no means a perfect news source, her statement seemed accurate to many. It is one of the outlets where there exists reality-based and largely trustworthy reporting – especially during breaking news situations such as the one unfolding in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Vulnerable Situation Amid a Business Battle
Yet the news network, now 45 years old, finds itself in a precarious state as two huge media corporations battle over ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
No matter the result, the future of CNN has been drawn into a high-stakes game of business acquisition, instead of as a question of what helps the information-seeking public.
“Here is one more case of the fundamental flaws with roots in decades 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? – overlooks a broader point.
“It gets presented as a business story with key players as the protagonists, but there is scant discussion of the common good,” Pickard said.
The Additional Layer: The Former President
The CNN scenario is further muddied by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his primary “fake news” foe.
Remember the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his administration's retaliatory suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in press briefings.
Trump now asserts that CNN needs new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will shield him from journalistic oversight. That is one reason why he appears to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
Trump has reason to like that bidder more. For one thing, it is controlled by David Ellison, son of the Trump-friendly Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
The company, owner of CBS News, also recently placed the conservative Bari Weiss, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that venerable news network.
A Future of Continued Uncertainty
It is important to note, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated 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 arrangement could position CNN for another sale. The cycle continues.
If you ask Timothy Wu, much of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance stated that competition laws should prohibit both deals.
“Both acquisition attempts would be detrimental to the country, and both should be challenged by the government,” Wu stated.
The Core Problem and a Path Forward
Whatever happens in this situation, the bigger problem remains.
“What we have now is a highly anti-democratic system, but we must resist a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard said. Policy decisions – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this overly commercial monster, and revised policy decisions can address it.
Will that happen in an era where the head of the FCC won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Change is a distant prospect now, but that should not imply it will be impossible forever.
Initiatives that bolster independent news organizations, aid local journalism, finance public media, and prevent the consolidation of media power in too few hands are not only possible – they are necessary for a robust democracy.
When it comes to media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations including CNN must not be pieces in the latest corporate chess match.
