Late Thursday, while unconfirmed reports spread regarding a shooting at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins took to social media, highlighting the uncertainty and guiding the public to her network’s 9pm newscast.
Although CNN is certainly not a impeccable news source, her message rang true to many. It stands as one of the organizations where you can find reality-based and largely reliable reporting – notably during breaking news situations like the one unfolding near a New Hampshire storage facility.
An Uncertain State Amid a High-Stakes Battle
But CNN, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a vulnerable situation as two giant media conglomerates battle over ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
Regardless of who wins, the future of CNN has been drawn into a high-risk game of business acquisition, instead of as a question of what helps the information-seeking public.
“Here is one more case of the profound systemic issues with roots in decades of governmental choices,” noted Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Pennsylvania University.
The conjecture about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – could it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a larger point.
“It is often framed as a corporate drama with key players as the protagonists, but there is scant discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard said.
The Complicating Element: Political Influence
This situation is complicated by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his primary “fake news” foe.
Recall the cries of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his team's disciplinary withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his clashes with Collins in official meetings.
Trump now claims that the network requires 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 aggressive takeover attempt.
There is a basis to like that bidder more. For one thing, it is controlled 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, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that venerable news network.
An Outcome of More Turmoil
Notably, 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 far from a secure position. That arrangement could set up CNN for yet another acquisition. It never ends.
According to Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance stated that anti-trust laws should disallow both deals.
“Either merger would be bad for the country, and both should be opposed by anti-trust authorities,” Wu argued.
The Bigger Problem and a Potential Solution
Whatever happens regarding CNN, the larger issue persists.
“Our current system is a profoundly system hostile to democracy, but we shouldn’t give in to a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard said. Government actions – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this overly commercial monster, and revised policy decisions can address it.
Can reform occur 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 never happen.
Initiatives that strengthen independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, finance public media, and outlaw the accumulation of media power in a handful of hands are achievable – they are necessary for a functioning democracy.
Regarding media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations including CNN must not be pawns in the latest acquisition battle.
