On Thursday evening, while unconfirmed reports spread concerning a shooting at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, highlighting the uncertainty and guiding the public to her channel's 9pm newscast.
While the network is hardly a impeccable news source, her statement seemed accurate for numerous observers. It remains one of the organizations where one can locate grounded and generally reliable reporting – notably during crises like the one taking place in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.
An Uncertain State During a Corporate Tug-of-War
However CNN, now middle-aged, finds itself in a uncertain situation as two huge media corporations battle over ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the future of CNN has turned into a high-risk game of corporate ownership, rather than as a question of what helps the news-consuming public.
“This is yet another example of the profound systemic issues with roots in many years of governmental choices,” noted Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Penn.
The debate about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – could it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a more important point.
“It is often framed as a business story with influential figures as the main characters, but there is very little discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard added.
The Complicating Layer: The Former President
The network's predicament is complicated by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his main “fake news” adversary.
Remember the cries of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his administration’s punitive suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his clashes with Collins in White House briefings.
Trump now claims that CNN needs new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will shield him from negative coverage and examination. That is one reason why he seems to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.
Trump has reason to favor that bidder more. For one thing, it is run by David Ellison, son of the Trump-friendly Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
The company, parent of CBS News, also recently appointed the conservative Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that venerable news network.
A Future of Further Uncertainty
It is important to note, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a standalone company. Such a move could be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a safe harbor. That setup could position CNN for yet another acquisition. There is no finish line.
If you ask Timothy Wu, much of this is illegal, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance recently argued that anti-trust laws should disallow both deals.
“Either merger would be harmful to the country, and both should be contested by anti-trust authorities,” Wu argued.
The Core Problem and a Path Forward
Whatever happens regarding CNN, the underlying crisis remains.
“What we have now is a very system hostile to democracy, but we must resist learned helplessness,” Pickard noted. Regulatory choices – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this profit-obsessed monster, and new policy decisions can address it.
Will that happen 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 should not imply it will be impossible forever.
Policies that strengthen independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, subsidize public media, and outlaw the concentration of media power in a handful of hands are within reach – they are necessary for a functioning democracy.
In the world of media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations including CNN cannot be pawns in the latest corporate chess match.
