On Thursday evening, amid swirling speculation concerning a shooting at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, pointing out the conflicting information and pointing viewers to her network’s 9pm newscast.
While CNN is certainly not a flawless news source, her message seemed accurate for a lot of people. It remains one of the broadcasters where you can find fact-based and largely dependable reporting – notably during fast-moving events like the one unfolding in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious Position During a Business Struggle
But the news network, now 45 years old, finds itself in a vulnerable situation as two huge media corporations battle over ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Regardless of who wins, the fate of CNN has become part of a major game of business acquisition, instead of as a question of what benefits the information-seeking public.
“This represents another instance of the fundamental flaws with origins in many years of policy decisions,” stated Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the Pennsylvania University.
The speculation about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a broader point.
“It gets presented as a financial tale with powerful individuals as the central actors, but there is very little discussion of the common good,” Pickard added.
A Further Factor: The Former President
The network's predicament is further muddied by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his primary “fake news” adversary.
Remember the chants of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his administration's retaliatory withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in press briefings.
Trump now asserts that the network requires new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will protect him from journalistic oversight. That is one reason why he seems to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.
He has grounds to favor that bidder 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 placed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that storied news network.
An Outcome of More Uncertainty
Significantly, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a independent unit. That would be a relief to many at the network, but it’s hardly a safe harbor. That setup could set up CNN for yet another acquisition. The cycle continues.
In the view of Timothy Wu, much of this is illegal, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that anti-trust laws should disallow both deals.
“Either merger would be harmful to the country, and both should be contested by regulators,” Wu stated.
The Core Challenge and a Way Ahead
No matter the outcome with this particular battle, the underlying crisis endures.
“What we have now is a highly structure that undermines democracy, but we shouldn’t give in to a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard said. Government actions – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this profit-obsessed monster, and revised policy decisions can tackle it.
Is this likely in an era where the head of the FCC won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Reform 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 a handful of hands are not only possible – they are vital for a healthy democracy.
In the world of media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations like CNN must not be pieces in the latest acquisition battle.
