On Thursday evening, while unconfirmed reports spread about an incident at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins took to social media, noting the confusion and directing people to her channel's 9pm newscast.
While CNN is certainly not a flawless news source, her message rang true for a lot of people. It is one of the broadcasters where there exists fact-based and generally trustworthy reporting – especially during fast-moving events such as the one taking place in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.
An Uncertain State During a Business Tug-of-War
However the news network, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a vulnerable state as two giant media corporations battle over ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
No matter the result, the future of CNN has become part of a major game of mergers and acquisitions, instead of as a question of what serves the information-seeking public.
“This is yet another example of the profound systemic issues with origins in many years of regulatory actions,” said Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Penn.
The conjecture about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – could 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 scant discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard said.
The Additional Element: Political Influence
The network's predicament is made more complex by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his primary “fake news” foe.
Recall the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his administration's retaliatory revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in White House briefings.
Trump now claims that CNN needs new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will shield him from journalistic oversight. That is one reason why he appears to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.
He has grounds to favor that suitor more. For one thing, it is controlled by David Ellison, son of the ally of 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 editor-in-chief of that storied news network.
An Outcome of Further Uncertainty
Notably, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a independent unit. That would be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a safe harbor. That structure could position CNN for another sale. The cycle continues.
If you ask Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is against the law, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance stated that competition laws should disallow both deals.
“Each proposed deal would be detrimental to the country, and both should be challenged by the government,” Wu recently wrote.
The Core Issue and a Potential Solution
No matter the outcome with this particular battle, the underlying crisis persists.
“The present media landscape is a highly structure that undermines democracy, but we must resist a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard said. Policy decisions – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this hyper-commercialized monster, and new policy decisions can fix it.
Will that happen in an era where the head of the FCC won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Change is a distant prospect now, but that is not to say it will be impossible forever.
Policies that strengthen independent news organizations, aid local journalism, finance public media, and outlaw the accumulation of media power in a handful of hands are within reach – they are necessary for a robust democracy.
Regarding media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations such as CNN shouldn’t be pawns in the latest corporate chess match.
