Late Thursday, as rumors swirled about the Brown University gunman, the network's Kaitlan Collins took to social media, noting the confusion and pointing viewers to her network’s 9pm newscast.
While it is by no means a flawless news source, her words resonated for a lot of people. It remains one of the broadcasters where you can find reality-based and mostly reliable reporting – especially during fast-moving events like the one unfolding in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Vulnerable Situation During a Business Battle
However the news network, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a uncertain situation as two giant media conglomerates vie for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
No matter the result, the destiny of CNN has turned into a high-risk game of business acquisition, instead of as a question of what serves the information-seeking public.
“Here is one more case of the profound systemic issues with roots in decades of governmental choices,” noted Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the Pennsylvania University.
The speculation about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a more important point.
“The narrative is crafted as a business story with influential figures as the protagonists, but there is very little discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard added.
The Complicating Layer: The Former President
The CNN scenario is made more complex by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his primary “fake news” foe.
Think back to the chants of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his administration's retaliatory suspension 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 criticism and scrutiny. That is part of why he appears to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.
Trump has reason to like that suitor more. For one thing, it is led by David Ellison, son of the Trump-friendly Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
Paramount, owner of CBS News, also recently appointed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that venerable news network.
An Outcome of Further Instability
Significantly, 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 not exactly a guarantee of stability. That arrangement could position CNN for a future sale. The cycle continues.
In the view of Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is illegal, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance recently argued that anti-trust laws should prohibit both deals.
“Each proposed deal would be detrimental to the country, and both should be challenged by anti-trust authorities,” Wu recently wrote.
The Fundamental Problem and a Way Ahead
Regardless of the resolution regarding CNN, the underlying crisis persists.
“What we have now is a very structure that undermines democracy, but we must resist the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard emphasized. Policy decisions – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this overly commercial monster, and revised policy decisions can fix it.
Is this likely in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Change is very unlikely now, but that is not to say it will never happen.
Measures that support independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, finance public media, and prevent the accumulation of media power in too few hands are within reach – they are vital for a robust democracy.
In the world of media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations like CNN must not be pieces in the latest acquisition battle.
