This past Thursday night, as rumors swirled regarding a shooting at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins used social media, pointing out the conflicting information and guiding the public to her network’s 9pm newscast.
Even though CNN is certainly not a perfect news source, her statement resonated for a lot of people. It stands as one of the broadcasters where you can find fact-based and largely reliable reporting – particularly during crises such as the one unfolding close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious Situation During a Corporate Struggle
However CNN, now middle-aged, finds itself in a uncertain state as two giant media conglomerates compete for ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the destiny of CNN has been drawn into a high-risk game of mergers and acquisitions, rather than as a question of what serves the news-consuming public.
“This is yet another example of the profound systemic issues with origins in decades of policy decisions,” noted Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy at the Penn.
The conjecture about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – could it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a broader point.
“It gets presented as a business story with key players as the main characters, but there is very little discussion of the public interest,” Pickard explained.
The Additional Layer: The Former President
The network's predicament is made more complex by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his primary “fake news” adversary.
Recall the cries of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his administration’s punitive suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in press briefings.
Trump now claims that CNN needs new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will protect him from criticism and scrutiny. That is part of why he seems to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
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 placed the conservative Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that historic news network.
A Future of Further Turmoil
Significantly, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a standalone company. Such a move could be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s hardly a safe harbor. That arrangement could pave the way for CNN for a future sale. It never ends.
In the view of Timothy Wu, a lot of this is illegal, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance stated that competition laws should block both deals.
“Both acquisition attempts would be bad for the country, and both should be opposed by regulators,” Wu argued.
The Fundamental Challenge and a Way Ahead
Whatever happens regarding CNN, the larger issue remains.
“Our current system is a very system hostile to democracy, but we shouldn’t give in to the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard noted. Regulatory choices – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this profit-obsessed monster, and new policy decisions can address it.
Can reform occur in an era where the top communications regulator will not confirm that the agency is independent? Reform is a distant prospect now, but that is not to say it will never happen.
Policies that strengthen independent news organizations, aid local journalism, finance public media, and prohibit the consolidation of media power in very few hands are not only possible – they are essential for a robust democracy.
When it comes to media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations like CNN must not be pieces in the newest corporate chess match.
