On Thursday evening, while unconfirmed reports spread about an incident at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins took to social media, noting the confusion and guiding the public to her channel's 9pm newscast.
Even though it is by no means a flawless news source, her words seemed accurate to many. It is one of the organizations where there exists reality-based and generally reliable reporting – notably during breaking news situations like the one unfolding close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
An Uncertain Position Amid a Corporate Struggle
But CNN, now middle-aged, finds itself in a precarious situation as two huge media conglomerates vie for ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the destiny of CNN has turned into a high-stakes game of mergers and acquisitions, rather than as a question of what helps the information-seeking public.
“Here is one more case of the profound systemic issues with origins in decades of governmental choices,” noted Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the University of Pennsylvania.
The speculation about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – could it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a more important point.
“The narrative is crafted as a business story with powerful individuals as the main characters, but there is hardly any discussion of the common good,” Pickard said.
A Further Factor: Donald Trump
This situation is made more complex by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his primary “fake news” adversary.
Recall the chants of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his administration’s punitive withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in press briefings.
Trump now asserts that the network requires new ownership. This can be interpreted 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.
There is a basis to like that company more. For one thing, it is run by David Ellison, son of the Trump-friendly Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
Paramount, parent of CBS News, also recently installed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that storied news network.
A Future of Continued Turmoil
Significantly, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a separate entity. Such a move could be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s hardly a safe harbor. That setup could pave the way for CNN for a future sale. The cycle continues.
In the view of Timothy Wu, much of this is against the law, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that competition laws should disallow both deals.
“Each proposed deal would be bad for the country, and both should be contested by regulators,” Wu argued.
The Fundamental Challenge and a Way Ahead
Whatever happens regarding CNN, the underlying crisis remains.
“The present media landscape is a very anti-democratic system, but we ought not succumb to learned helplessness,” Pickard emphasized. Government actions – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this profit-obsessed monster, and revised policy decisions can fix it.
Is this likely in an era where the top communications regulator will not confirm that the agency is independent? Overhaul is a distant prospect now, but that is not to say it will not happen in the future.
Measures that bolster independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, subsidize public media, and prevent the consolidation of media power in too few hands are not only possible – they are necessary for a robust democracy.
Regarding media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations including CNN must not be tools in the latest acquisition battle.
