Late Thursday, while unconfirmed reports spread concerning an incident at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, noting the confusion and directing people to her network’s 9pm newscast.
Although it is by no means a flawless news source, her message resonated for numerous observers. It is one of the organizations where there exists grounded and mostly reliable reporting – particularly during breaking news situations such as the one developing near a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Vulnerable Situation Amid a Business Struggle
Yet CNN, now 45 years old, finds itself in a uncertain situation as two massive media empires battle over ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the fate of CNN has turned into a high-stakes game of business acquisition, rather than as a question of what serves the news-consuming public.
“This is yet another example of the profound systemic issues with roots in decades of regulatory actions,” stated Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the University of Pennsylvania.
The conjecture about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a more important point.
“It gets presented as a corporate drama with powerful individuals as the main characters, but there is very little discussion of the common good,” Pickard added.
The Complicating Element: Political Influence
The CNN scenario is made more complex by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his chief “fake news” foe.
Recall the chants of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his team's disciplinary revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his clashes with Collins in press briefings.
Trump now asserts that the network requires new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will protect him from journalistic oversight. That is a factor in why he seems to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.
There is a basis to favor that suitor more. For one thing, it is led by David Ellison, son of the Trump-friendly Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
Paramount, owner of CBS News, also recently placed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that historic news network.
An Outcome of Further Turmoil
Significantly, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a standalone company. This might 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 a future sale. The cycle continues.
In the view of Timothy Wu, a lot of this is illegal, anyway. The well-known analyst 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 challenged by the government,” Wu stated.
The Core Issue and a Path Forward
Regardless of the resolution with this particular battle, the larger issue remains.
“What we have now is a highly anti-democratic system, but we shouldn’t give in to a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard emphasized. Regulatory choices – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this overly commercial monster, and different policy decisions can tackle it.
Is this likely in an era where the head of the FCC refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Reform is highly improbable now, but that doesn’t mean it will never happen.
Measures that strengthen independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, subsidize public media, and prohibit the accumulation of media power in too few hands are achievable – they are necessary for a healthy democracy.
In the world of media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations including CNN must not be pieces in the newest acquisition battle.
