On Thursday evening, while unconfirmed reports spread about an incident at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins used social media, highlighting the uncertainty and directing people to her network’s 9pm newscast.
Even though the network is hardly a perfect news source, her message rang true for a lot of people. It stands as one of the organizations where you can find grounded and largely trustworthy reporting – especially during breaking news situations such as the one developing near a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious Position Amid a Business Struggle
Yet the news network, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a precarious position as two huge media corporations vie for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Regardless of who wins, the destiny of CNN has become part of a high-risk game of business acquisition, rather than as a question of what helps the news-consuming public.
“This represents another instance of the fundamental flaws with roots in many years of governmental choices,” stated Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the University of Pennsylvania.
The conjecture about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a larger point.
“It is often framed as a business story with powerful individuals as the main characters, but there is very little discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard added.
The Complicating Element: Political Influence
This situation is made more complex by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his chief “fake news” adversary.
Remember the chants of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his team's disciplinary withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in press briefings.
Trump now claims that the network requires new ownership. Many see this as a desire for ownership that will protect him from negative coverage and examination. That is part of why he appears to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.
Trump has reason to prefer that company more. For one thing, it is run by David Ellison, son of the pro-Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
The company, parent of CBS News, also recently installed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that historic news network.
An Outcome of More Turmoil
It is important to note, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a standalone company. Such a move could be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a guarantee of stability. That arrangement could set up CNN for yet another acquisition. It never ends.
In the view of Timothy Wu, a lot of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that competition laws should block both deals.
“Both acquisition attempts would be bad for the country, and both should be challenged by regulators,” Wu recently wrote.
The Bigger Challenge and a Way Ahead
Whatever happens in this situation, the larger issue endures.
“Our current system is a highly anti-democratic system, but we shouldn’t give in to a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard emphasized. Regulatory choices – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this hyper-commercialized monster, and different policy decisions can tackle it.
Will that happen in an era where the top communications regulator won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Reform is very unlikely now, but that is not to say it will be impossible forever.
Measures that bolster independent news organizations, aid local journalism, finance public media, and prohibit the accumulation of media power in very few hands are achievable – they are vital for a healthy democracy.
When it comes to media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations like CNN must not be pawns in the latest acquisition battle.
