On Thursday evening, while unconfirmed reports spread regarding a shooting at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins used social media, noting the confusion and pointing viewers to her channel's 9pm newscast.
Even though it is by no means a flawless news source, her message resonated for a lot of people. It remains one of the broadcasters where there exists reality-based and generally trustworthy reporting – particularly during fast-moving events like the one developing in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Vulnerable State Amid a Business Tug-of-War
Yet CNN, now 45 years old, finds itself in a vulnerable state as two huge media empires vie for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Regardless of who wins, the future of CNN has been drawn into a major game of business acquisition, instead of as a question of what serves the news-consuming public.
“This represents another instance of the profound systemic issues with roots in many years of governmental choices,” stated Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the University of Pennsylvania.
The debate about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – could it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a larger point.
“It gets presented as a corporate drama with key players as the central actors, but there is very little discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard said.
The Additional Element: Donald Trump
The network's predicament is made more complex by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his chief “fake news” antagonist.
Think back to the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his administration’s punitive withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his clashes with Collins in official meetings.
Trump now claims that the network requires new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will protect him from criticism and scrutiny. That is a factor in why he seems to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
Trump has reason to like 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.
Paramount, owner of CBS News, also recently installed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that venerable news network.
An Outcome of Further Turmoil
Notably, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a separate entity. Such a move could be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s far from a guarantee of stability. That arrangement could pave the way for CNN for a future sale. The cycle continues.
If you ask Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is against the law, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance stated that competition laws should disallow both deals.
“Either merger would be detrimental to the country, and both should be contested by regulators,” Wu recently wrote.
The Fundamental Problem and a Way Ahead
Whatever happens regarding CNN, the underlying crisis persists.
“The present media landscape is a very structure that undermines democracy, but we must resist learned helplessness,” Pickard noted. Regulatory choices – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this overly commercial monster, and new policy decisions can tackle it.
Can reform occur in an era where the head of the FCC will not confirm that the agency is independent? Overhaul is a distant prospect now, but that is not to say it will never happen.
Measures that support independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, finance public media, and outlaw the accumulation of media power in a handful of hands are achievable – they are necessary for a functioning democracy.
In the world of media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations like CNN must not be pawns in the newest merger game.
