Late Thursday, while unconfirmed reports spread regarding the Brown University gunman, the network's Kaitlan Collins took to social media, noting the confusion and directing people to her network’s 9pm newscast.
While the network is hardly a flawless news source, her message seemed accurate for a lot of people. It remains one of the broadcasters where you can find fact-based and mostly dependable reporting – particularly during breaking news situations like the one taking place close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Vulnerable State Amid a High-Stakes Battle
However the news network, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a uncertain situation as two giant media empires compete for ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
No matter the result, the future of CNN has been drawn into a high-risk game of mergers and acquisitions, not as a question of what benefits the news-consuming public.
“Here is one more case of the deep structural problems with origins in decades of governmental choices,” said Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy at the University of Pennsylvania.
The debate about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a larger point.
“The narrative is crafted as a business story with influential figures as the main characters, but there is very little discussion of the common good,” Pickard explained.
A Further Factor: Political Influence
This situation is further muddied by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his primary “fake news” foe.
Remember the chants of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his administration’s punitive revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in White House briefings.
Trump now claims that CNN needs new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will protect him from criticism and scrutiny. That is one reason why he seems to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.
There is a basis to like 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, owner of CBS News, also recently placed the conservative Bari Weiss, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that historic news network.
An Outcome of More Uncertainty
Notably, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a standalone company. That would be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s hardly a guarantee of stability. That arrangement could pave the way for CNN for a future sale. The cycle continues.
In the view of Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is illegal, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance recently argued that anti-trust laws should disallow both deals.
“Each proposed deal would be detrimental to the country, and both should be challenged by the government,” Wu argued.
The Bigger Challenge and a Path Forward
No matter the outcome with this particular battle, the larger issue persists.
“What we have now is a very structure that undermines democracy, but we must resist learned helplessness,” Pickard noted. Regulatory choices – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this hyper-commercialized monster, and different policy decisions can tackle it.
Is this likely in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair will not confirm that the agency is independent? Reform is a distant prospect now, but that doesn’t mean it will be impossible forever.
Initiatives that bolster independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, finance public media, and outlaw the consolidation of media power in a handful of hands are within reach – they are essential for a functioning democracy.
When it comes to media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations such as CNN cannot be pawns in the newest merger game.
