This past Thursday night, while unconfirmed reports spread concerning an incident at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins took to social media, pointing out the conflicting information and guiding the public to her network’s 9pm newscast.
While CNN is certainly not a impeccable news source, her words rang true for a lot of people. It remains one of the broadcasters where there exists grounded and mostly reliable reporting – notably during crises like the one taking place close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
An Uncertain Situation During a High-Stakes Tug-of-War
However the news network, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a uncertain state as two huge media corporations battle over ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Regardless of who wins, the destiny of CNN has turned into a major game of business acquisition, rather than as a question of what serves the information-seeking public.
“This is yet another example of the fundamental flaws with origins in decades of regulatory actions,” noted Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy at the Penn.
The conjecture about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a more important point.
“It gets presented as a financial tale with powerful individuals as the protagonists, but there is scant discussion of the common good,” Pickard added.
The Complicating Layer: Donald Trump
The network's predicament is further muddied by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his chief “fake news” adversary.
Recall the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his team's disciplinary suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in White House briefings.
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 seems to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.
Trump has reason to prefer that suitor more. For one thing, it is run by David Ellison, son of the ally of Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
The company, owner of CBS News, also recently installed the conservative Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that storied news network.
A Possibility of Continued Uncertainty
Significantly, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a standalone company. This might be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a secure position. That structure could position CNN for another sale. The cycle continues.
According to Timothy Wu, a lot of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that anti-trust laws should disallow both deals.
“Both acquisition attempts would be detrimental to the country, and both should be challenged by the government,” Wu recently wrote.
The Fundamental Issue and a Potential Solution
No matter the outcome with this particular battle, the larger issue endures.
“Our current system is a profoundly system hostile to democracy, but we ought not succumb to a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard emphasized. Policy decisions – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this overly commercial monster, and different policy decisions can fix it.
Is this likely in an era where the head of the FCC won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Reform is very unlikely now, but that doesn’t mean it will never happen.
Policies that strengthen independent news organizations, aid local journalism, fund public media, and prohibit the consolidation of media power in very few hands are within reach – they are essential for a healthy democracy.
In the world of media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations such as CNN shouldn’t be pawns in the newest merger game.
