This past Thursday night, while unconfirmed reports spread about an incident at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins used social media, pointing out the conflicting information and directing people to her network’s 9pm newscast.
While the network is hardly a flawless news source, her words seemed accurate for a lot of people. It is one of the broadcasters where one can locate fact-based and largely dependable reporting – especially during breaking news situations like the one taking place near a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Vulnerable Position Amid a Corporate Tug-of-War
However the news network, now middle-aged, finds itself in a uncertain state as two giant media corporations vie for ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
No matter the result, the future of CNN has been drawn into a high-risk game of mergers and acquisitions, instead of as a question of what benefits the information-seeking public.
“This represents another instance of the fundamental flaws with origins in decades of policy decisions,” noted Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Penn.
The conjecture about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a more important point.
“It gets presented as a financial tale with influential figures as the central actors, but there is hardly any discussion of the public interest,” Pickard added.
The Additional Factor: Donald Trump
The network's predicament 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 chants of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his team's disciplinary revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his clashes with Collins in official meetings.
Trump now says that CNN needs new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will insulate 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 hostile bid.
There is a basis 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, parent of CBS News, also recently placed the conservative Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that historic news network.
A Possibility of More Instability
It is important to note, if Netflix is successful, 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 not exactly a secure position. That arrangement could set up CNN for a future sale. The cycle continues.
In the view of Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance stated that anti-trust laws should disallow both deals.
“Each proposed deal would be detrimental to the country, and both should be opposed by the government,” Wu stated.
The Fundamental Issue and a Way Ahead
Whatever happens in this situation, the larger issue remains.
“What we have now is a very structure that undermines democracy, but we must resist learned helplessness,” Pickard noted. Government actions – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this hyper-commercialized monster, and different 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 highly improbable now, but that should not imply it will not happen in the future.
Initiatives that bolster independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, finance public media, and prevent the accumulation of media power in too few hands are achievable – they are necessary for a functioning democracy.
When it comes to media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations like CNN shouldn’t be pieces in the latest corporate chess match.
