This past Thursday night, while unconfirmed reports spread 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 CNN is certainly not a impeccable news source, her statement rang true for a lot of people. It stands as one of the organizations where you can find reality-based and mostly dependable reporting – particularly during breaking news situations like the one unfolding near a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Vulnerable State Amid a Business Tug-of-War
But the news network, now middle-aged, finds itself in a vulnerable situation as two giant media conglomerates compete for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the destiny of CNN has turned into a high-risk game of mergers and acquisitions, rather than as a question of what benefits the news-consuming public.
“This is yet another example of the profound systemic issues with roots in decades of regulatory actions,” said Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the University of Pennsylvania.
The debate about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a more important point.
“The narrative is crafted as a financial tale with influential figures as the main characters, but there is very little discussion of the public interest,” Pickard said.
The Complicating Element: Donald Trump
The CNN scenario is further muddied by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his chief “fake news” antagonist.
Remember the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his team's disciplinary revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in White House briefings.
Trump now claims that the network requires new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will protect him from negative coverage and examination. That is part of why he appears to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
There is a basis to prefer that company more. For one thing, it is run 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 placed the conservative Bari Weiss, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that storied news network.
A Future of Continued Uncertainty
It is important to note, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a independent unit. That would be a relief to many at the network, but it’s hardly a guarantee of stability. That arrangement could position CNN for yet another acquisition. There is no finish line.
In the view of Timothy Wu, a lot of this is illegal, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that competition laws should prohibit both deals.
“Either merger would be detrimental to the country, and both should be challenged by regulators,” Wu recently wrote.
The Bigger Issue and a Potential Solution
No matter the outcome with this particular battle, the underlying crisis persists.
“What we have now is a profoundly anti-democratic system, but we ought not succumb to the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard emphasized. Government actions – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this overly commercial monster, and new policy decisions can tackle it.
Can reform occur in an era where the head of the FCC refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Overhaul is very unlikely now, but that doesn’t mean it will never happen.
Measures that bolster independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, finance public media, and outlaw the concentration of media power in a handful of hands are not only possible – they are vital for a robust democracy.
Regarding media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations including CNN cannot be pawns in the most recent acquisition battle.
