On Thursday evening, amid swirling speculation regarding an incident at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins took to social media, noting the confusion and guiding the public to her channel's 9pm newscast.
While the network is hardly a impeccable news source, her message rang true for numerous observers. It remains one of the broadcasters where one can locate reality-based and generally reliable reporting – especially during fast-moving events like the one taking place in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.
An Uncertain Situation Amid a Business Struggle
But the news network, now 45 years old, finds itself in a vulnerable state as two massive media empires compete for ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the future of CNN has become part of a major game of corporate ownership, not as a question of what helps the news-consuming public.
“This represents another instance of the fundamental flaws with roots in decades of policy decisions,” noted Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the Penn.
The debate about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a broader point.
“It is often framed as a business story with influential figures as the central actors, but there is hardly any discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard explained.
The Complicating Factor: Donald Trump
The network's predicament is made more complex by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his main “fake news” adversary.
Recall the chants of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his administration’s punitive withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his clashes with Collins in White House briefings.
Trump now says that the network requires new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will insulate him from negative coverage and examination. That is a factor in why he seems to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.
There is a basis to prefer that suitor more. For one thing, it is led 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 installed the conservative Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that venerable news network.
A Future of More Instability
Notably, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a standalone company. Such a move could be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s far from a secure position. That setup could set up CNN for a future sale. It never ends.
In the view of Timothy Wu, a lot of this is illegal, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance recently argued that anti-trust laws should prohibit both deals.
“Each proposed deal would be harmful to the country, and both should be contested by the government,” Wu recently wrote.
The Core Problem and a Way Ahead
No matter the outcome with this particular battle, the underlying crisis endures.
“The present media landscape is a very structure that undermines democracy, but we shouldn’t give in to a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard emphasized. Regulatory choices – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this profit-obsessed monster, and different policy decisions can fix it.
Can reform occur in an era where the top communications regulator will not confirm that the agency is independent? Change is very unlikely now, but that is not to say it will never happen.
Measures that support independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, subsidize public media, and outlaw the accumulation of media power in a handful of hands are not only possible – they are essential for a robust democracy.
In the world of media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations including CNN cannot be pawns in the newest acquisition battle.
