On Thursday evening, amid swirling speculation regarding a shooting at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, pointing out the conflicting information and directing people to her network’s 9pm newscast.
Although CNN is certainly not a flawless news source, her words resonated to many. It is one of the outlets where there exists reality-based and largely dependable reporting – notably during breaking news situations such as the one unfolding close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious Position During a High-Stakes Struggle
But 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.
No matter the result, the destiny of CNN has been drawn into a high-risk game of business acquisition, rather than as a question of what helps the news-consuming public.
“Here is one more case of the deep structural problems with roots in many years of regulatory actions,” said Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Pennsylvania University.
The speculation about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a broader point.
“It is often framed as a business story with key players as the protagonists, but there is hardly any discussion of the public interest,” Pickard explained.
The Additional Element: The Former President
The CNN scenario is further muddied by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his primary “fake news” antagonist.
Remember the chants 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 says that CNN needs new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will insulate him from criticism and scrutiny. That is one reason why he appears to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
He has grounds to favor that suitor more. For one thing, it is run by David Ellison, son of the Trump-friendly Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
Paramount, owner of CBS News, also recently appointed the conservative Bari Weiss, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that storied news network.
A Possibility of Continued Turmoil
Notably, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a standalone company. That would be a relief to many at the network, but it’s far from a secure position. That setup could pave the way for CNN for another sale. The cycle continues.
In the view of Timothy Wu, a lot of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance stated that anti-trust laws should disallow both deals.
“Either merger would be harmful to the country, and both should be opposed by anti-trust authorities,” Wu recently wrote.
The Fundamental Challenge and a Potential Solution
Regardless of the resolution regarding CNN, the larger issue persists.
“Our current system is a highly structure that undermines democracy, but we must resist learned helplessness,” Pickard said. Regulatory choices – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this profit-obsessed monster, and new policy decisions can fix it.
Will that happen in an era where the top communications regulator refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Overhaul is a distant prospect now, but that doesn’t mean it will be impossible forever.
Policies that support independent news organizations, aid local journalism, subsidize public media, and prevent the concentration of media power in a handful of hands are achievable – they are vital for a robust democracy.
Regarding media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations like CNN cannot be pawns in the most recent corporate chess match.
