This past Thursday night, while unconfirmed reports spread concerning a shooting at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins took to social media, noting the confusion and guiding the public to her network’s 9pm newscast.
While CNN is certainly not a impeccable news source, her statement resonated for numerous observers. It remains one of the organizations where one can locate fact-based and generally trustworthy reporting – especially during fast-moving events like the one taking place in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.
An Uncertain Situation Amid a Business Struggle
But the news network, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a precarious situation as two massive media corporations battle over ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the destiny of CNN has been drawn into a major game of mergers and acquisitions, rather than as a question of what helps the news-consuming public.
“This represents another instance of the profound systemic issues with roots in decades of regulatory actions,” noted Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy at the University of Pennsylvania.
The debate about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – could it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a more important point.
“It is often framed as a corporate drama with key players as the main characters, but there is very little discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard said.
The Complicating Layer: Political Influence
The network's predicament is further muddied by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his chief “fake news” antagonist.
Remember the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his team's disciplinary revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in official meetings.
Trump now says that CNN needs new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will insulate him from criticism and scrutiny. That is part of why he seems to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.
Trump has reason to favor that company more. For one thing, it is led 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 right-leaning Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that storied news network.
An Outcome of Continued Instability
It is important to note, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a independent unit. This might be a relief to many at the network, but it’s far from a secure position. That arrangement could pave the way for CNN for yet another acquisition. There is no finish line.
In the view of Timothy Wu, a lot of this is illegal, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that competition laws should prohibit both deals.
“Both acquisition attempts would be detrimental to the country, and both should be challenged by regulators,” Wu argued.
The Bigger Challenge and a Path Forward
Regardless of the resolution regarding CNN, the underlying crisis endures.
“What we have now is a very system hostile to democracy, but we shouldn’t give in to the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard noted. Regulatory choices – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this profit-obsessed monster, and different policy decisions can tackle it.
Will that happen in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Overhaul is a distant prospect now, but that doesn’t mean it will never happen.
Policies that strengthen independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, subsidize public media, and outlaw the accumulation of media power in too few hands are not only possible – they are vital for a functioning democracy.
When it comes to media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations such as CNN cannot be pawns in the newest acquisition battle.
