On Thursday evening, while unconfirmed reports spread regarding a shooting at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, pointing out the conflicting information and pointing viewers to her channel's 9pm newscast.
Although the network is hardly a impeccable news source, her message seemed accurate to many. It stands as one of the outlets where you can find grounded and largely reliable reporting – particularly during breaking news situations like the one taking place near a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious Position Amid a High-Stakes Battle
Yet the news network, now 45 years old, finds itself in a precarious situation as two giant media corporations compete for ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
No matter the result, the destiny of CNN has been drawn into a high-risk game of business acquisition, rather than as a question of what serves the information-seeking public.
“This is yet another example of the profound systemic issues with roots in decades of governmental choices,” said Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy at the Penn.
The speculation about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a more important point.
“The narrative is crafted as a corporate drama with key players as the central actors, but there is hardly any discussion of the common good,” Pickard explained.
A Further Layer: Political Influence
The network's predicament is further muddied by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his primary “fake news” adversary.
Think back to the cries of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his administration’s punitive suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in official meetings.
Trump now asserts that CNN needs new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will insulate him from journalistic oversight. That is a factor in why he appears to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.
He has grounds to like that bidder more. For one thing, it is controlled by David Ellison, son of the pro-Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
The company, parent of CBS News, also recently installed the conservative Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that storied news network.
A Possibility of More Instability
Notably, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a independent unit. Such a move could be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a guarantee of stability. That arrangement could position CNN for yet another acquisition. It never ends.
In the view of Timothy Wu, a lot of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance recently argued that anti-trust laws should block both deals.
“Both acquisition attempts would be bad for the country, and both should be opposed by anti-trust authorities,” Wu argued.
The Bigger Issue and a Potential Solution
No matter the outcome in this situation, the larger issue remains.
“What we have now is a very system hostile to democracy, but we shouldn’t give in to the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard noted. Policy decisions – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this profit-obsessed monster, and revised policy decisions can fix it.
Is this likely in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair will not confirm that the agency is independent? Change is highly improbable now, but that is not to say it will be impossible forever.
Policies that support independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, fund public media, and outlaw the accumulation of media power in very few hands are not only possible – they are essential for a healthy democracy.
Regarding media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations like CNN shouldn’t be pieces in the latest merger game.
