This past Thursday night, as rumors swirled about the Brown University gunman, the network's Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, highlighting the uncertainty and pointing viewers to her network’s 9pm newscast.
Although it is by no means a flawless news source, her message rang true for numerous observers. It stands as one of the broadcasters where you can find fact-based and generally dependable reporting – especially during fast-moving events like the one unfolding close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
An Uncertain State During a Corporate Struggle
Yet CNN, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a uncertain state as two massive media empires compete for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the destiny of CNN has turned into a high-risk game of corporate ownership, instead of as a question of what helps the news-consuming public.
“This is yet another example of the profound systemic issues with roots in many years of policy decisions,” said Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Pennsylvania University.
The speculation about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a broader point.
“The narrative is crafted as a business story with influential figures as the central actors, but there is hardly any discussion of the common good,” Pickard explained.
A Further Factor: Political Influence
The network's predicament is made more complex by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his primary “fake news” foe.
Remember the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his administration's retaliatory withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in official meetings.
Trump now asserts that the network requires new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will shield him from journalistic oversight. That is a factor in why he appears to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.
He has grounds to like that suitor 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 installed the conservative Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that venerable news network.
A Possibility of Further Turmoil
Notably, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a independent unit. Such a move could be a relief to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a safe harbor. That setup could pave the way for CNN for a future sale. There is no finish line.
According to Timothy Wu, much of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that competition laws should prohibit both deals.
“Each proposed deal would be detrimental to the country, and both should be challenged by anti-trust authorities,” Wu recently wrote.
The Fundamental Problem and a Way Ahead
Whatever happens with this particular battle, the larger issue endures.
“Our current system is a profoundly anti-democratic system, but we shouldn’t give in to learned helplessness,” Pickard noted. Regulatory choices – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this overly commercial monster, and revised policy decisions can tackle it.
Is this likely in an era where the top communications regulator won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Change is a distant prospect now, but that should not imply it will never happen.
Measures that support independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, subsidize public media, and prevent the concentration of media power in too few hands are achievable – they are essential for a functioning democracy.
When it comes to media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations like CNN cannot be pawns in the most recent corporate chess match.
