Late Thursday, amid swirling speculation about the Brown University gunman, the network's Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, noting the confusion and directing people to her network’s 9pm newscast.
While CNN is certainly not a impeccable news source, her words seemed accurate to many. It stands as one of the organizations where you can find grounded and largely trustworthy reporting – particularly during breaking news situations like the one taking place near a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious State Amid a Business Battle
Yet the news network, now middle-aged, finds itself in a precarious situation as two massive media conglomerates compete for ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
Regardless of who wins, the future of CNN has become part of a high-stakes game of mergers and acquisitions, instead of as a question of what helps the news-consuming public.
“Here is one more case of the fundamental flaws with roots in many years of governmental choices,” stated Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the Penn.
The conjecture about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a larger point.
“It is often framed as a financial tale with powerful individuals as the main characters, but there is very little discussion of the common good,” Pickard explained.
The Complicating Layer: The Former President
The network's predicament is further muddied by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his primary “fake news” foe.
Remember the cries of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his team's disciplinary revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in official meetings.
Trump now says that the network requires new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will shield him from criticism and scrutiny. That is a factor in why he appears to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.
There is a basis to like that bidder 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, owner of CBS News, also recently appointed the conservative Bari Weiss, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that historic news network.
A Possibility of Continued Turmoil
It is important to note, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a separate entity. 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 position CNN for yet another acquisition. The cycle continues.
In the view of Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is against the law, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that anti-trust laws should disallow both deals.
“Both acquisition attempts would be bad for the country, and both should be challenged by the government,” Wu recently wrote.
The Core Problem and a Path Forward
Whatever happens regarding CNN, the bigger problem remains.
“The present media landscape is a profoundly anti-democratic system, but we ought not succumb to a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard said. Government actions – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this overly commercial monster, and new policy decisions can fix it.
Can reform occur in an era where the head of the FCC will not confirm that the agency is independent? Overhaul is a distant prospect now, but that doesn’t mean it will be impossible forever.
Measures that support independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, finance public media, and prohibit the concentration of media power in a handful of hands are within reach – they are essential for a healthy democracy.
Regarding media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations like CNN must not be pawns in the newest corporate chess match.
