This past Thursday night, while unconfirmed reports spread regarding the Brown University gunman, the network's Kaitlan Collins used social media, noting the confusion and directing people to her channel's 9pm newscast.
Even though the network is hardly a flawless news source, her words rang true to many. It remains one of the outlets where one can locate grounded and mostly dependable reporting – particularly during fast-moving events such as the one unfolding near a New Hampshire storage facility.
An Uncertain Situation Amid a Business Battle
But CNN, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a vulnerable situation as two giant media empires vie for ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
No matter the result, the fate of CNN has become part of a major game of business acquisition, not as a question of what benefits the information-seeking public.
“This is yet another example of the profound systemic issues with roots in many years of regulatory actions,” said Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the Pennsylvania University.
The debate about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a larger point.
“It gets presented as a business story with powerful individuals as the main characters, but there is hardly any discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard said.
The Additional Element: Political Influence
The network's predicament is complicated by Donald Trump’s opinions 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 clashes with Collins in White House briefings.
Trump now claims that CNN needs new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will shield him from journalistic oversight. That is part of why he seems to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.
There is a basis to like that suitor more. For one thing, it is run by David Ellison, son of the pro-Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
The company, parent of CBS News, also recently appointed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that venerable news network.
A Future of More Uncertainty
Notably, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a independent unit. That would be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s far from a guarantee of stability. That arrangement could position CNN for a future sale. It never ends.
If you ask Timothy Wu, a lot of this is illegal, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance stated that anti-trust laws should block both deals.
“Both acquisition attempts would be detrimental to the country, and both should be challenged by regulators,” Wu argued.
The Bigger Challenge and a Path Forward
No matter the outcome regarding CNN, the underlying crisis persists.
“The present media landscape is a highly structure that undermines democracy, but we shouldn’t give in to a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard noted. Government actions – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this hyper-commercialized monster, and revised policy decisions can fix it.
Will that happen in an era where the top communications regulator won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Overhaul is a distant prospect now, but that doesn’t mean it will not happen in the future.
Measures that bolster independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, subsidize public media, and outlaw the accumulation of media power in too few hands are not only possible – they are necessary for a healthy democracy.
When it comes to media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations like CNN cannot be pieces in the newest acquisition battle.
