Late Thursday, as rumors swirled about the Brown University gunman, the network's Kaitlan Collins took to social media, noting the confusion and guiding the public to her channel's 9pm newscast.
Although CNN is certainly not a perfect news source, her message rang true for numerous observers. It stands as one of the outlets where you can find grounded and largely trustworthy reporting – notably during fast-moving events such as the one developing close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious Position Amid a Corporate Struggle
But CNN, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a precarious state as two massive media corporations compete for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the fate of CNN has been drawn into a high-risk game of mergers and acquisitions, not as a question of what serves the information-seeking public.
“This represents another instance of the profound systemic issues with roots in many years of governmental choices,” noted Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy at the Penn.
The speculation about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – could it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a larger point.
“The narrative is crafted as a financial tale with influential figures as the main characters, but there is very little discussion of the common good,” Pickard explained.
The Additional Layer: Political Influence
This situation is complicated by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his chief “fake news” adversary.
Remember the cries of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his administration’s punitive revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in official meetings.
Trump now claims that the network requires new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will protect him from journalistic oversight. That is part of why he seems to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.
There is a basis to prefer that suitor more. For one thing, it is controlled by David Ellison, son of the ally of Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
The company, parent of CBS News, also recently installed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that historic news network.
A Future of More Turmoil
It is important to note, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a standalone company. That would be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s far from a guarantee of stability. That setup could pave the way for CNN for yet another acquisition. The cycle continues.
According to Timothy Wu, much of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, 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 harmful to the country, and both should be opposed by anti-trust authorities,” Wu recently wrote.
The Bigger Issue and a Way Ahead
No matter the outcome with this particular battle, the bigger problem remains.
“What we have now is a profoundly anti-democratic system, but we ought not succumb to learned helplessness,” Pickard said. Government actions – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this overly commercial monster, and different policy decisions can address it.
Can reform occur in an era where the top communications regulator refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Reform is very unlikely now, but that doesn’t mean it will not happen in the future.
Policies that bolster independent news organizations, aid local journalism, fund public media, and prevent the concentration of media power in too few hands are within reach – they are necessary for a functioning democracy.
Regarding media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations such as CNN shouldn’t be pawns in the latest acquisition battle.
