This past Thursday night, amid swirling speculation about the Brown University gunman, the network's Kaitlan Collins used social media, highlighting the uncertainty and pointing viewers to her network’s 9pm newscast.
Although the network is hardly a impeccable news source, her words rang true for numerous observers. It remains one of the broadcasters where you can find fact-based and generally reliable reporting – notably during fast-moving events like the one developing near a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious Situation Amid a High-Stakes Tug-of-War
But the news network, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a uncertain situation as two massive media empires vie for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
No matter the result, the destiny of CNN has been drawn into a high-stakes game of business acquisition, rather than as a question of what serves the news-consuming public.
“Here is one more case of the fundamental flaws with origins in many years of regulatory actions,” said Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Penn.
The conjecture about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a more important point.
“It is often framed as a corporate drama with powerful individuals as the protagonists, but there is very little discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard explained.
A Further Layer: Donald Trump
The CNN scenario is made more complex by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his main “fake news” antagonist.
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 clashes with Collins in official meetings.
Trump now asserts that the network requires new ownership. Many see this as a desire for 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 aggressive takeover attempt.
He has grounds to like that company more. For one thing, it is run by David Ellison, son of the pro-Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
The company, owner of CBS News, also recently installed the conservative Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that historic news network.
A Future of Continued Instability
Notably, 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 hardly a safe harbor. That structure could set up CNN for yet another acquisition. There is no finish line.
If you ask Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is against the law, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance recently argued that anti-trust laws should disallow both deals.
“Both acquisition attempts would be detrimental to the country, and both should be contested by anti-trust authorities,” Wu recently wrote.
The Core Issue and a Path Forward
Whatever happens with this particular battle, the larger issue remains.
“What we have now is a very anti-democratic system, but we shouldn’t give in to the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard said. Policy decisions – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this hyper-commercialized monster, and new policy decisions can address it.
Will that happen in an era where the top communications regulator refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Change is a distant prospect now, but that doesn’t mean it will not happen in the future.
Policies that support independent news organizations, aid local journalism, fund public media, and prevent the concentration of media power in very few hands are not only possible – they are necessary for a robust democracy.
Regarding media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations such as CNN cannot be pieces in the most recent corporate chess match.
