Late Thursday, amid swirling speculation about a shooting at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins used social media, noting the confusion and pointing viewers to her channel's 9pm newscast.
Even though the network is hardly a impeccable news source, her words seemed accurate for a lot of people. It is one of the organizations where you can find grounded and generally trustworthy reporting – especially during fast-moving events such as the one taking place near a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious Position During a High-Stakes Tug-of-War
However CNN, now middle-aged, finds itself in a vulnerable situation as two giant media corporations vie for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the fate of CNN has become part of a major game of mergers and acquisitions, instead of as a question of what benefits the news-consuming public.
“This is yet another example of the profound systemic issues with origins in decades of governmental choices,” stated Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy at the Pennsylvania University.
The speculation 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 business story with influential figures as the central actors, but there is scant discussion of the public interest,” Pickard explained.
A Further Factor: Political Influence
The network's predicament is made more complex by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his main “fake news” foe.
Recall the cries of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his administration's retaliatory suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his clashes with Collins in official meetings.
Trump now asserts that CNN needs new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will protect him from criticism and scrutiny. That is a factor in why he appears to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.
He has grounds to prefer 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, parent of CBS News, also recently installed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that venerable news network.
A Future of Further Turmoil
It is important to note, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a standalone company. Such a move could be a relief to many at the network, but it’s far from a guarantee of stability. That arrangement could position CNN for a future sale. The cycle continues.
According to 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.
“Both acquisition attempts would be harmful to the country, and both should be opposed by regulators,” Wu stated.
The Bigger Challenge and a Potential Solution
Regardless of the resolution in this situation, the underlying crisis persists.
“What we have now is a very anti-democratic system, but we shouldn’t give in to a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard noted. Policy decisions – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this profit-obsessed monster, and new policy decisions can address it.
Will that happen in an era where the head of the FCC will not confirm that the agency is independent? Change is highly improbable now, but that should not imply it will not happen in the future.
Measures that bolster independent news organizations, aid local journalism, finance public media, and prevent the concentration of media power in too few hands are within reach – they are vital for a healthy democracy.
In the world of media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations including CNN must not be pieces in the newest corporate chess match.
