On Thursday evening, while unconfirmed reports spread regarding an incident at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins used social media, highlighting the uncertainty and pointing viewers to her channel's 9pm newscast.
Although CNN is certainly not a perfect news source, her statement seemed accurate to many. It stands as one of the broadcasters where there exists reality-based and generally reliable reporting – especially during crises such as the one unfolding near a New Hampshire storage facility.
An Uncertain State Amid a High-Stakes Battle
However CNN, now 45 years old, finds itself in a vulnerable situation as two massive media empires vie for ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
Regardless of who wins, the fate of CNN has become part of a high-stakes game of mergers and acquisitions, not as a question of what serves the news-consuming public.
“This represents another instance of the deep structural problems with roots in decades of policy decisions,” stated Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Penn.
The conjecture about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – could it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a larger point.
“It is often framed as a financial tale with powerful individuals as the protagonists, but there is hardly any discussion of the public interest,” Pickard explained.
A Further Factor: Political Influence
The network's predicament is made more complex by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his chief “fake news” adversary.
Remember the chants of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his administration’s punitive withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in official meetings.
Trump now says that CNN needs new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will shield him from criticism and scrutiny. That is one reason why he seems to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
Trump has reason 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, owner of CBS News, also recently placed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that historic news network.
A Future of Continued Turmoil
Significantly, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a independent unit. Such a move could be a relief to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a guarantee of stability. That structure could pave the way for CNN for another sale. The cycle continues.
In the view of Timothy Wu, much of this is against the law, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance recently argued that competition laws should block both deals.
“Each proposed deal would be detrimental to the country, and both should be challenged by anti-trust authorities,” Wu argued.
The Core Problem and a Potential Solution
Whatever happens with this particular battle, the underlying crisis endures.
“The present media landscape is a profoundly structure that undermines democracy, but we must resist the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard noted. Policy decisions – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this overly commercial monster, and different policy decisions can tackle it.
Will that happen in an era where the top communications regulator will not confirm that the agency is independent? Overhaul is highly improbable now, but that is not to say it will never happen.
Policies that bolster independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, finance public media, and prohibit the concentration of media power in too few hands are not only possible – they are necessary for a robust democracy.
In the world of media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations including CNN cannot be pawns in the latest acquisition battle.
