This past Thursday night, while unconfirmed reports spread concerning a shooting at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, noting the confusion and directing people to her channel's 9pm newscast.
Although it is by no means a impeccable news source, her words resonated for numerous observers. It is one of the organizations where one can locate fact-based and mostly dependable reporting – notably during fast-moving events like the one unfolding close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
An Uncertain Position During a High-Stakes Struggle
However the news network, now 45 years old, finds itself in a uncertain state as two huge media empires battle over ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Regardless of who wins, the future of CNN has become part of a high-risk game of corporate ownership, rather than as a question of what serves the information-seeking public.
“Here is one more case of the fundamental flaws with origins in decades of governmental choices,” said Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Pennsylvania University.
The conjecture about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a broader point.
“It gets presented as a business story with powerful individuals as the central actors, but there is very little discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard explained.
A Further Factor: The Former President
This situation is made more complex by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his main “fake news” adversary.
Think back to the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his team's disciplinary withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in official meetings.
Trump now says that the network requires new ownership. Many see this as a desire for ownership that will insulate him from negative coverage and examination. That is part of why he seems to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.
There is a basis to prefer 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, parent of CBS News, also recently installed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that historic news network.
A Future of Continued Instability
Significantly, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a separate entity. This might be a relief to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a safe harbor. That structure could set up CNN for a future sale. There is no finish line.
In the view of Timothy Wu, much of this is against the law, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that anti-trust laws should prohibit both deals.
“Either merger would be detrimental to the country, and both should be contested by anti-trust authorities,” Wu argued.
The Fundamental Challenge and a Way Ahead
Whatever happens with this particular battle, the larger issue endures.
“The present media landscape is a highly anti-democratic system, but we ought not succumb to learned helplessness,” Pickard said. Regulatory choices – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this profit-obsessed monster, and revised policy decisions can tackle it.
Is this likely in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Overhaul is a distant prospect now, but that doesn’t mean it will never happen.
Initiatives that strengthen independent news organizations, aid local journalism, fund public media, and prohibit the concentration of media power in a handful of hands are within reach – they are essential for a healthy democracy.
In the world of media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations like CNN must not be tools in the newest merger game.
