This past Thursday night, while unconfirmed reports spread concerning an incident at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins took to social media, highlighting the uncertainty and guiding the public to her channel's 9pm newscast.
Although CNN is certainly not a flawless news source, her words rang true to many. It is one of the outlets where you can find grounded and largely reliable reporting – notably during breaking news situations like the one unfolding close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious Situation Amid a Corporate Tug-of-War
Yet CNN, now 45 years old, finds itself in a uncertain situation as two huge media empires vie for ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
No matter the result, the destiny of CNN has been drawn into a high-stakes game of business acquisition, not as a question of what serves the information-seeking public.
“This is yet another example of the fundamental flaws with origins in decades of policy decisions,” said Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy at the Pennsylvania University.
The conjecture about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a larger point.
“It is often framed as a financial tale with influential figures as the main characters, but there is very little discussion of the common good,” Pickard explained.
The Additional Element: Political Influence
The CNN scenario is complicated by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his primary “fake news” antagonist.
Think back to the chants of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his team's disciplinary suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in press briefings.
Trump now asserts that CNN needs new ownership. Many see this as a desire for ownership that will shield him from negative coverage and examination. That is a factor in why he appears to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
He has grounds to like that bidder more. For one thing, it is run 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 conservative Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that venerable news network.
A Future of More Turmoil
Notably, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a independent unit. That would be a relief to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a safe harbor. That setup could set up CNN for another sale. The cycle continues.
According to Timothy Wu, much of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance recently argued that competition laws should prohibit both deals.
“Each proposed deal would be harmful to the country, and both should be opposed by anti-trust authorities,” Wu stated.
The Core Issue and a Potential Solution
Regardless of the resolution in this situation, the larger issue endures.
“What we have now is a profoundly structure that undermines democracy, but we must resist learned helplessness,” Pickard said. Policy decisions – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this profit-obsessed monster, and new policy decisions can tackle it.
Is this likely in an era where the top communications regulator won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Change is a distant prospect now, but that is not to say it will not happen in the future.
Initiatives that strengthen independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, fund public media, and outlaw the concentration of media power in very few hands are achievable – they are necessary for a functioning democracy.
Regarding media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations like CNN cannot be tools in the newest corporate chess match.
