Late Thursday, while unconfirmed reports spread about a shooting at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins used social media, noting the confusion and guiding the public to her network’s 9pm newscast.
Although the network is hardly a impeccable news source, her words resonated for a lot of people. It stands as one of the outlets where one can locate grounded and largely reliable reporting – notably during fast-moving events like the one developing close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
An Uncertain State Amid a High-Stakes Battle
But the news network, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a precarious position as two huge media corporations vie for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the fate of CNN has become part of a high-risk game of corporate ownership, instead of as a question of what benefits the information-seeking public.
“Here is one more case of the fundamental flaws with roots in decades of policy decisions,” stated Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the University of Pennsylvania.
The speculation about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a larger point.
“It is often framed as a business story with influential figures as the main characters, but there is very little discussion of the common good,” Pickard explained.
The Complicating Element: The Former President
The CNN scenario is complicated by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his chief “fake news” foe.
Think back to the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his team's disciplinary revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in official meetings.
Trump now says that CNN needs new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will insulate him from criticism and scrutiny. That is part of why he appears to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.
Trump has reason to favor that bidder more. For one thing, it is run by David Ellison, son of the pro-Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
Paramount, parent of CBS News, also recently installed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that historic news network.
A Possibility of More Turmoil
Significantly, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a separate entity. That would be a relief to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a safe harbor. That structure could pave the way for CNN for a future sale. It never ends.
According to Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that competition laws should disallow both deals.
“Both acquisition attempts would be bad for the country, and both should be contested by anti-trust authorities,” Wu argued.
The Bigger Problem and a Way Ahead
No matter the outcome with this particular battle, the underlying crisis endures.
“Our current system is a very structure that undermines democracy, but we must resist the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard noted. Government actions – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this overly commercial monster, and new policy decisions can address it.
Can reform occur in an era where the head of the FCC won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Overhaul is highly improbable now, but that doesn’t mean it will not happen in the future.
Measures that support independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, fund public media, and outlaw the accumulation of media power in very few hands are achievable – they are vital for a healthy democracy.
Regarding media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations like CNN cannot be tools in the newest corporate chess match.
