On Thursday evening, amid swirling speculation about an incident at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, highlighting the uncertainty and guiding the public to her channel's 9pm newscast.
While it is by no means a perfect news source, her statement resonated to many. It stands as one of the broadcasters where one can locate reality-based and generally reliable reporting – notably during crises like the one developing in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Vulnerable Position During a Corporate Struggle
However the news network, now 45 years old, finds itself in a precarious position as two giant media corporations battle over ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the future of CNN has turned into a high-risk game of corporate ownership, not as a question of what serves the information-seeking public.
“This is yet another example of the profound systemic issues with roots in decades of policy decisions,” noted Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy at the Penn.
The conjecture about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a more important point.
“It gets presented as a business story with powerful individuals as the main characters, but there is scant discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard said.
The Additional Factor: The Former President
The CNN scenario is made more complex by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his main “fake news” adversary.
Recall the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his administration’s punitive suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his clashes with Collins in press briefings.
Trump now asserts that CNN needs new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will insulate him from journalistic oversight. That is a factor in why he appears to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.
He has grounds to like that suitor more. For one thing, it is controlled by David Ellison, son of the pro-Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
Paramount, parent of CBS News, also recently appointed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that storied news network.
An Outcome of Further Turmoil
Notably, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a separate entity. This might be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s far from a guarantee of stability. That setup could pave the way for CNN for yet another acquisition. It never ends.
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 recently argued that competition laws should prohibit both deals.
“Each proposed deal would be detrimental to the country, and both should be opposed by the government,” Wu argued.
The Bigger Challenge and a Potential Solution
Regardless of the resolution in this situation, the bigger problem persists.
“Our current system is a profoundly structure that undermines democracy, but we must resist learned helplessness,” Pickard said. Government actions – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this hyper-commercialized monster, and new policy decisions can address it.
Will that happen in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Overhaul is highly improbable now, but that is not to say it will never happen.
Initiatives that bolster independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, finance public media, and prohibit the consolidation of media power in a handful of hands are achievable – they are vital for a healthy democracy.
When it comes to media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations including CNN shouldn’t be pawns in the latest corporate chess match.
