This past Thursday night, while unconfirmed reports spread about an incident at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins took to social media, noting the confusion and guiding the public to her network’s 9pm newscast.
Although it is by no means a flawless news source, her words seemed accurate for a lot of people. It remains one of the organizations where there exists grounded and mostly reliable reporting – particularly during crises such as the one unfolding close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Vulnerable Position During a Corporate Tug-of-War
But the news network, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a precarious situation as two huge media empires compete for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
No matter the result, the fate of CNN has become part of a high-stakes game of mergers and acquisitions, not as a question of what helps the information-seeking public.
“This is yet another example of the fundamental flaws with origins in many years of governmental choices,” said Victor Pickard, writer 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? – overlooks a larger point.
“The narrative is crafted as a financial tale with key players as the protagonists, but there is scant discussion of the public interest,” Pickard said.
A Further Factor: Donald Trump
The network's predicament is complicated by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his main “fake news” foe.
Think back to the cries of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his administration’s punitive withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in White House briefings.
Trump now says that CNN needs new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will insulate him from criticism and scrutiny. That is part of why he appears to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.
There is a basis to like that company more. For one thing, it is controlled 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 conservative Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that storied news network.
A Future of Continued Uncertainty
Significantly, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a standalone company. This might be a relief to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a guarantee of stability. That arrangement could pave the way for CNN for another sale. There is no finish line.
In the view of Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is against the law, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance recently argued that competition laws should block both deals.
“Both acquisition attempts would be bad for the country, and both should be challenged by regulators,” Wu stated.
The Fundamental Problem and a Way Ahead
Regardless of the resolution regarding CNN, the bigger problem endures.
“What we have now is a profoundly anti-democratic system, but we ought not succumb to a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard emphasized. Regulatory choices – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this overly commercial monster, and different policy decisions can fix it.
Is this likely in an era where the top communications regulator refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Change is very unlikely now, but that doesn’t mean it will be impossible forever.
Measures that bolster independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, fund public media, and prevent the accumulation of media power in too few hands are within reach – they are essential for a robust democracy.
When it comes to media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations including CNN shouldn’t be tools in the most recent merger game.
