This past Thursday night, amid swirling speculation regarding a shooting at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins used social media, highlighting the uncertainty and guiding the public to her channel's 9pm newscast.
Although CNN is certainly not a perfect news source, her message resonated for a lot of people. It stands as one of the organizations where one can locate grounded and largely trustworthy reporting – notably during fast-moving events such as the one unfolding near a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Vulnerable State During a Business Struggle
But CNN, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a uncertain position as two massive media corporations vie for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Regardless of who wins, the destiny of CNN has been drawn into a high-risk game of mergers and acquisitions, instead of as a question of what benefits the information-seeking public.
“This represents another instance of the fundamental flaws with roots in many years of policy decisions,” noted Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the Penn.
The speculation about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – could it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a broader point.
“It gets presented as a financial tale with powerful individuals as the main characters, but there is hardly any discussion of the common good,” Pickard explained.
The Complicating Element: Political Influence
The network's predicament is made more complex by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his chief “fake news” antagonist.
Think back to the chants of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his administration’s punitive suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his clashes with Collins in press briefings.
Trump now says that the network requires new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will insulate him from negative coverage and examination. That is one reason why he appears to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.
He has grounds to like that bidder more. For one thing, it is run by David Ellison, son of the ally of Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
Paramount, owner of CBS News, also recently appointed the conservative Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that venerable news network.
A Possibility of Continued Uncertainty
It is important to note, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a separate entity. This might be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s hardly a safe harbor. That arrangement could position CNN for a future sale. There is no finish line.
According to Timothy Wu, much of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that competition laws should prohibit both deals.
“Both acquisition attempts would be bad for the country, and both should be contested by the government,” Wu stated.
The Fundamental Problem and a Way Ahead
Whatever happens regarding CNN, the bigger problem remains.
“The present media landscape is a very system hostile to democracy, but we ought not succumb to the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard emphasized. Regulatory choices – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this hyper-commercialized monster, and new policy decisions can tackle it.
Is this likely in an era where the top communications regulator refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Change is highly improbable now, but that doesn’t mean it will be impossible forever.
Measures that strengthen independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, fund public media, and prevent the accumulation of media power in too few hands are within reach – they are vital for a functioning democracy.
In the world of media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations such as CNN must not be pawns in the newest merger game.
