On Thursday evening, as rumors swirled regarding an incident at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, pointing out the conflicting information and guiding the public to her channel's 9pm newscast.
While the network is hardly a flawless news source, her message seemed accurate for a lot of people. It remains one of the broadcasters where there exists reality-based and mostly dependable reporting – especially during fast-moving events such as the one unfolding in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Vulnerable Situation Amid a Business Struggle
But the news network, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a vulnerable state as two giant media conglomerates compete for ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
Regardless of who wins, the fate of CNN has become part of a major game of business acquisition, instead of as a question of what benefits the news-consuming public.
“This is yet another example of the deep structural problems with origins in many years of governmental choices,” said Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the Penn.
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 corporate drama with powerful individuals as the main characters, but there is scant discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard said.
The Additional Factor: Donald Trump
The network's predicament is further muddied by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his primary “fake news” foe.
Recall the cries of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his administration’s punitive suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in press briefings.
Trump now claims that CNN needs new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will protect him from negative coverage and examination. That is one reason why he appears to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
Trump has reason to favor that company 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 conservative Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that historic news network.
A Possibility of More Turmoil
Significantly, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a separate entity. Such a move could be a relief to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a guarantee of stability. That arrangement could set up CNN for another sale. It never ends.
In the view of Timothy Wu, a lot of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance recently argued that competition laws should prohibit both deals.
“Either merger would be detrimental to the country, and both should be challenged by anti-trust authorities,” Wu argued.
The Fundamental Problem and a Way Ahead
No matter the outcome regarding CNN, the larger issue persists.
“What we have now is a profoundly structure that undermines democracy, but we must resist a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard emphasized. Policy decisions – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this profit-obsessed monster, and different policy decisions can address it.
Can reform occur in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair will not confirm that the agency is independent? Overhaul is a distant prospect now, but that doesn’t mean it will not happen in the future.
Initiatives that support independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, subsidize public media, and outlaw the concentration of media power in too few hands are within reach – they are necessary for a robust democracy.
In the world of media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations like CNN shouldn’t be pawns in the latest corporate chess match.
