This past Thursday night, amid swirling speculation about the Brown University gunman, the network's Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, pointing out the conflicting information and pointing viewers to her channel's 9pm newscast.
Even though CNN is certainly not a flawless news source, her statement resonated for a lot of people. It stands as one of the organizations where there exists fact-based and mostly dependable reporting – notably during breaking news situations such as the one unfolding in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious Situation During a High-Stakes Battle
Yet CNN, now 45 years old, finds itself in a vulnerable state as two huge media empires battle over ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
No matter the result, the fate of CNN has been drawn into a high-stakes game of corporate ownership, instead of as a question of what benefits the news-consuming public.
“Here is one more case of the profound systemic issues with roots in many years of regulatory actions,” noted Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the University of Pennsylvania.
The speculation about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a larger point.
“It gets presented as a financial tale with key players as the central actors, but there is scant discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard added.
The Complicating Layer: Political Influence
The network's predicament is further muddied by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his chief “fake news” antagonist.
Recall the chants of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his team's disciplinary suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in press briefings.
Trump now says that the network requires new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will insulate him from negative coverage and examination. That is one reason why he appears to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.
Trump has reason to prefer that suitor more. For one thing, it is run by David Ellison, son of the Trump-friendly Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
Paramount, parent of CBS News, also recently placed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that venerable news network.
A Future of Continued Turmoil
Significantly, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a separate entity. Such a move could be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s hardly a guarantee of stability. That structure could position CNN for a future sale. It never ends.
In the view of Timothy Wu, much of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance recently argued that competition laws should prohibit both deals.
“Either merger would be bad for the country, and both should be contested by anti-trust authorities,” Wu argued.
The Bigger Issue and a Path Forward
No matter the outcome in this situation, the bigger problem endures.
“What we have now is a highly anti-democratic system, but we shouldn’t give in to learned helplessness,” Pickard emphasized. Policy decisions – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this profit-obsessed monster, and revised policy decisions can fix it.
Is this likely in an era where the head of the FCC refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Change is highly improbable now, but that should not imply it will be impossible forever.
Policies that support independent news organizations, aid local journalism, subsidize public media, and prevent the consolidation of media power in too few hands are achievable – they are essential for a healthy democracy.
In the world of media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations such as CNN shouldn’t be pieces in the newest corporate chess match.
