On Thursday evening, while unconfirmed reports spread about a shooting at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, pointing out the conflicting information and directing people to her network’s 9pm newscast.
While CNN is certainly not a perfect news source, her message rang true for numerous observers. It stands as one of the outlets where one can locate grounded and mostly dependable reporting – especially during breaking news situations like the one unfolding in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious Situation Amid a Corporate Tug-of-War
Yet the news network, now middle-aged, finds itself in a uncertain position as two massive media conglomerates compete for ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
No matter the result, the future of CNN has turned into a high-risk game of mergers and acquisitions, not as a question of what serves the news-consuming public.
“This is yet another example of the profound systemic issues with roots in decades of regulatory actions,” stated 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 – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a larger point.
“It gets presented as a corporate drama with powerful individuals as the central actors, but there is scant discussion of the common good,” Pickard said.
A Further Layer: Political Influence
The CNN scenario is complicated by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his main “fake news” foe.
Remember the chants of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his administration’s punitive withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in official meetings.
Trump now claims that the network requires new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will protect him from criticism and scrutiny. That is part of why he appears to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
He has grounds to like that company more. For one thing, it is controlled by David Ellison, son of the pro-Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
Paramount, parent of CBS News, also recently placed the conservative Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that venerable news network.
A Future of Further Turmoil
Notably, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a independent unit. This might be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s far from a safe harbor. That setup could set up CNN for another sale. The cycle continues.
According to Timothy Wu, a lot of this is against the law, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance recently argued that competition laws should block both deals.
“Both acquisition attempts would be bad for the country, and both should be challenged by the government,” Wu stated.
The Fundamental Problem and a Way Ahead
No matter the outcome in this situation, the bigger problem persists.
“What we have now is a very system hostile to democracy, but we ought not succumb to a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard emphasized. Policy decisions – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this overly commercial monster, and different 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? Reform is a distant prospect now, but that is not to say it will be impossible forever.
Policies that strengthen independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, fund public media, and prohibit the consolidation of media power in a handful of hands are within reach – they are essential for a healthy democracy.
Regarding media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations like CNN cannot be pawns in the latest merger game.
