Late Thursday, as rumors swirled concerning an incident at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins took to social media, highlighting the uncertainty and pointing viewers to her channel's 9pm newscast.
Even though the network is hardly a perfect news source, her words rang true for a lot of people. It remains one of the organizations where you can find reality-based and generally reliable reporting – notably during breaking news situations like the one unfolding in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Vulnerable State Amid a High-Stakes Struggle
However CNN, now 45 years old, finds itself in a uncertain state as two giant media empires battle over ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
Regardless of who wins, the fate of CNN has become part of a high-risk game of corporate ownership, instead of as a question of what serves the news-consuming public.
“Here is one more case of the profound systemic issues with roots in many years of governmental choices,” stated Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the University of Pennsylvania.
The speculation about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – could it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a broader point.
“It gets presented as a financial tale with key players as the main characters, but there is hardly any discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard explained.
The Complicating Factor: The Former President
The network's predicament is further muddied by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his main “fake news” foe.
Remember the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his team's disciplinary suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in press briefings.
Trump now asserts that CNN needs new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will shield him from journalistic oversight. That is one reason why he appears to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
There is a basis 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, owner of CBS News, also recently appointed the conservative Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that venerable news network.
An Outcome of Further Instability
Significantly, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a independent unit. This might be a relief to many at the network, but it’s far from a secure position. That structure could position CNN for yet another acquisition. The cycle continues.
If you ask Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is illegal, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that anti-trust laws should block both deals.
“Both acquisition attempts would be bad for the country, and both should be challenged by the government,” Wu recently wrote.
The Fundamental Issue and a Way Ahead
No matter the outcome with this particular battle, the underlying crisis persists.
“What we have now is a profoundly system hostile to democracy, but we shouldn’t give in to learned helplessness,” Pickard noted. Regulatory choices – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this overly commercial monster, and different policy decisions can fix 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 is not to say it will be impossible forever.
Initiatives that bolster independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, subsidize public media, and outlaw the consolidation of media power in very few hands are within reach – they are vital for a robust democracy.
Regarding media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations such as CNN cannot be tools in the most recent corporate chess match.
