Late Thursday, amid swirling speculation concerning an incident at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins took to social media, noting the confusion and directing people to her network’s 9pm newscast.
While it is by no means a impeccable news source, her statement rang true to many. It remains one of the outlets where one can locate fact-based and largely dependable reporting – notably during fast-moving events such as the one taking place near a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious Situation Amid a Business Battle
However the news network, now 45 years old, finds itself in a vulnerable situation as two huge media conglomerates battle over ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
No matter the result, the fate of CNN has turned into a major game of mergers and acquisitions, instead of as a question of what benefits the information-seeking public.
“This represents another instance of the profound systemic issues with roots in many years of policy decisions,” stated Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Penn.
The speculation about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a broader point.
“It gets presented as a corporate drama with key players as the central actors, but there is scant discussion of the common good,” Pickard added.
The Additional Layer: Donald Trump
The network's predicament is complicated by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his primary “fake news” adversary.
Remember the chants of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his administration's retaliatory suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in official meetings.
Trump now claims that CNN needs new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will protect him from negative coverage and examination. That is a factor in why he appears to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
He has grounds to prefer 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.
Paramount, owner of CBS News, also recently installed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that historic news network.
An Outcome of More Instability
Notably, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a independent unit. This might be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s hardly a secure position. That arrangement could pave the way for CNN for yet another acquisition. It never ends.
According to Timothy Wu, much of this is against the law, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that competition laws should block both deals.
“Each proposed deal would be bad for the country, and both should be opposed by anti-trust authorities,” Wu recently wrote.
The Core Issue and a Potential Solution
Whatever happens regarding CNN, the bigger problem persists.
“Our current system is a profoundly system hostile to democracy, but we ought not succumb to the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard noted. Government actions – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this hyper-commercialized monster, and new policy decisions can tackle it.
Can reform occur in an era where the top communications regulator won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Overhaul is very unlikely now, but that is not to say it will never happen.
Policies that support independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, subsidize public media, and prohibit the accumulation of media power in very few hands are not only possible – they are necessary for a healthy democracy.
Regarding media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations such as CNN shouldn’t be tools in the most recent acquisition battle.
