Late Thursday, amid swirling speculation concerning the Brown University gunman, the network's Kaitlan Collins took to social media, pointing out the conflicting information and guiding the public to her network’s 9pm newscast.
Although CNN is certainly not a perfect news source, her statement rang true for a lot of people. It is one of the organizations where you can find grounded and generally dependable reporting – notably during crises such as the one developing close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious Situation Amid a Business Tug-of-War
But the news network, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a vulnerable situation as two giant media corporations vie for 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, rather than as a question of what serves the information-seeking public.
“Here is one more case of the profound systemic issues with roots in decades of policy decisions,” said Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy at the Pennsylvania University.
The speculation about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – could it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a larger point.
“It gets presented as a business story with powerful individuals as the protagonists, but there is hardly any discussion of the common good,” Pickard explained.
The Complicating Factor: The Former President
The network's predicament is made more complex by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his main “fake news” foe.
Remember the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his administration's retaliatory withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in press briefings.
Trump now claims that CNN needs new ownership. Many see this as a desire for ownership that will shield him from journalistic oversight. That is a factor in why he seems to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.
There is a basis to like that company more. For one thing, it is led 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 appointed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that venerable news network.
A Future of More Instability
Notably, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a independent unit. Such a move could be a relief to many at the network, but it’s hardly a guarantee of stability. That arrangement could position CNN for yet another acquisition. The cycle continues.
In the view of Timothy Wu, much of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance recently argued that competition laws should block both deals.
“Either merger would be bad for the country, and both should be contested by regulators,” Wu argued.
The Fundamental Issue and a Way Ahead
Regardless of the resolution in this situation, the larger issue endures.
“Our current system is a highly system hostile to democracy, but we must resist learned helplessness,” Pickard emphasized. Government actions – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this profit-obsessed monster, and different policy decisions can tackle it.
Is this likely in an era where the head of the FCC refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Change is very unlikely now, but that doesn’t mean it will be impossible forever.
Policies that strengthen independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, fund public media, and prohibit the consolidation of media power in very few hands are not only possible – they are essential for a functioning democracy.
In the world of media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations such as CNN must not be tools in the newest corporate chess match.
