This past Thursday night, as rumors swirled about a shooting at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins used social media, highlighting the uncertainty and directing people to her channel's 9pm newscast.
While it is by no means a impeccable news source, her message rang true to many. It remains one of the outlets where one can locate fact-based and generally dependable reporting – particularly during fast-moving events like the one unfolding near a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Vulnerable Position Amid a Corporate Battle
However CNN, now middle-aged, finds itself in a precarious situation as two giant media empires compete for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the future of CNN has become part of a high-risk game of corporate ownership, rather than as a question of what helps the information-seeking public.
“This is yet another example of the profound systemic issues with origins in decades of governmental choices,” noted Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Pennsylvania University.
The debate about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a broader point.
“The narrative is crafted as a corporate drama with powerful individuals as the protagonists, but there is scant discussion of the common good,” Pickard added.
The Additional Element: The Former President
The network's predicament is made more complex by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his main “fake news” antagonist.
Recall the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his administration’s punitive revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in official meetings.
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 part of why he appears to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.
He has grounds to prefer that company 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 appointed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that venerable news network.
A Possibility of More Uncertainty
It is important to note, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a standalone company. That would be a relief to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a guarantee of stability. That structure could set up CNN for another sale. There is no finish line.
If you ask Timothy Wu, much of this is illegal, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance stated that anti-trust laws should disallow both deals.
“Each proposed deal would be bad for the country, and both should be opposed by regulators,” Wu recently wrote.
The Fundamental Challenge and a Path Forward
Regardless of the resolution regarding CNN, the larger issue persists.
“What we have now is a highly anti-democratic system, but we ought not succumb to learned helplessness,” Pickard emphasized. Policy decisions – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this profit-obsessed monster, and new policy decisions can address it.
Is this likely in an era where the top communications regulator won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Reform is very unlikely now, but that should not imply it will be impossible forever.
Initiatives that support independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, finance public media, and prevent the accumulation of media power in very few hands are within reach – they are essential for a robust democracy.
Regarding media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations such as CNN must not be pawns in the most recent acquisition battle.
