This past Thursday night, while unconfirmed reports spread regarding a shooting at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins used social media, pointing out the conflicting information and directing people to her channel's 9pm newscast.
While CNN is certainly not a perfect news source, her words rang true for a lot of people. It stands as one of the organizations where there exists reality-based and largely reliable reporting – notably during crises such as the one unfolding in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious Situation During a Corporate Battle
Yet the news network, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a precarious situation as two massive media corporations compete for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Regardless of who wins, the destiny of CNN has become part of a high-risk game of mergers and acquisitions, rather than as a question of what benefits the information-seeking public.
“This represents another instance of the profound systemic issues with origins in decades of governmental choices,” said Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Pennsylvania University.
The conjecture about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a larger point.
“The narrative is crafted as a business story with influential figures as the central actors, but there is very little discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard explained.
The Complicating Layer: The Former President
The CNN scenario is complicated by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his main “fake news” antagonist.
Think back to the cries of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his team's disciplinary suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in White House briefings.
Trump now says that the network requires new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will protect him from negative coverage and examination. That is part of why he seems to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.
Trump has reason to like that suitor more. For one thing, it is controlled by David Ellison, son of the Trump-friendly Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
The company, owner of CBS News, also recently placed the conservative Bari Weiss, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that historic news network.
A Possibility of Further Uncertainty
Significantly, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a independent unit. That would be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s hardly a safe harbor. That arrangement could set up CNN for another sale. There is no finish line.
If you ask Timothy Wu, much of this is against the law, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that anti-trust laws should disallow both deals.
“Either merger would be detrimental to the country, and both should be opposed by anti-trust authorities,” Wu argued.
The Core Issue and a Path Forward
Whatever happens with this particular battle, the larger issue endures.
“Our current system is a profoundly anti-democratic system, but we shouldn’t give in to learned helplessness,” Pickard emphasized. Regulatory choices – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this overly commercial monster, and revised policy decisions can tackle it.
Is this likely in an era where the head of the FCC refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Overhaul is a distant prospect now, but that is not to say it will never happen.
Policies that support independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, finance public media, and prevent the concentration of media power in too few hands are within reach – they are vital for a functioning democracy.
When it comes to media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations like CNN shouldn’t be tools in the latest acquisition battle.
