Late Thursday, amid swirling speculation concerning the Brown University gunman, the network's Kaitlan Collins used social media, highlighting the uncertainty and pointing viewers to her channel's 9pm newscast.
While CNN is certainly not a flawless news source, her message rang true to many. It is one of the organizations where there exists reality-based and generally reliable reporting – notably during fast-moving events like the one unfolding near a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious Situation Amid a Corporate Struggle
But the news network, now middle-aged, finds itself in a vulnerable state as two massive media corporations battle over ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Regardless of who wins, the destiny of CNN has become part of a high-risk game of business acquisition, not as a question of what serves the information-seeking public.
“This represents another instance of the fundamental flaws 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 Penn.
The debate about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a larger point.
“The narrative is crafted as a business story with powerful individuals as the protagonists, but there is hardly any discussion of the public interest,” Pickard said.
A Further Element: Donald Trump
This situation is complicated by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his primary “fake news” antagonist.
Remember the chants of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his team's disciplinary suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in White House briefings.
Trump now asserts that the network requires new ownership. Many see this as a desire for ownership that will protect him from criticism and scrutiny. That is one reason why he seems to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.
He has grounds to favor that company more. For one thing, it is controlled by David Ellison, son of the Trump-friendly Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
Paramount, owner of CBS News, also recently installed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that storied news network.
A Future of More Uncertainty
Notably, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a independent unit. That would be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s far from a safe harbor. That structure could set up CNN for yet another acquisition. It never ends.
According to Timothy Wu, a lot of this is against the law, 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 the government,” Wu stated.
The Fundamental Issue and a Path Forward
Whatever happens in this situation, the bigger problem endures.
“Our current system is a very system hostile to democracy, but we ought not succumb to learned helplessness,” Pickard emphasized. Regulatory choices – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this profit-obsessed monster, and new policy decisions can fix it.
Will that happen in an era where the top communications regulator will not confirm that the agency is independent? Overhaul is very unlikely now, but that doesn’t mean it will be impossible forever.
Policies that support independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, fund public media, and prevent the concentration of media power in too few hands are not only possible – they are vital for a robust democracy.
Regarding media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations including CNN cannot be pieces in the most recent acquisition battle.
