This past Thursday night, as rumors swirled regarding the Brown University gunman, the network's Kaitlan Collins used social media, noting the confusion and directing people to her channel's 9pm newscast.
Although it is by no means a impeccable news source, her message seemed accurate for a lot of people. It is one of the broadcasters where you can find fact-based and largely reliable reporting – particularly during crises such as the one developing in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Vulnerable Situation Amid a Corporate Battle
However the news network, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a uncertain state as two massive media conglomerates vie for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Regardless of who wins, the future of CNN has turned into a high-risk game of corporate ownership, rather than as a question of what benefits the information-seeking public.
“This is yet another example of the profound systemic issues with roots in many years of policy decisions,” stated Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the Pennsylvania University.
The conjecture about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – could it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a larger point.
“It gets presented as a business story with influential figures as the central actors, but there is very little discussion of the common good,” Pickard explained.
The Additional Element: The Former President
This situation is made more complex by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his chief “fake news” antagonist.
Remember the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his team's disciplinary suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in White House briefings.
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 one reason why he appears to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
Trump has reason to like that bidder 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.
Paramount, parent of CBS News, also recently installed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that storied news network.
A Possibility of Continued Instability
Significantly, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a separate entity. That would be a relief to many at the network, but it’s hardly a secure position. That structure could set up CNN for another sale. The cycle continues.
In the view of Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is against the law, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance stated that competition laws should disallow both deals.
“Either merger would be harmful to the country, and both should be opposed by regulators,” Wu stated.
The Fundamental Issue and a Potential Solution
No matter the outcome regarding CNN, the larger issue persists.
“What we have now is a highly structure that undermines democracy, but we shouldn’t give in to a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard noted. Regulatory choices – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this hyper-commercialized monster, and revised policy decisions can address it.
Will that happen in an era where the top communications regulator refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Reform is a distant prospect now, but that doesn’t mean it will not happen in the future.
Initiatives that strengthen independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, finance public media, and prohibit the concentration of media power in a handful of hands are not only possible – they are necessary for a healthy democracy.
Regarding media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations like CNN shouldn’t be tools in the latest corporate chess match.
