On Thursday evening, as rumors swirled concerning the Brown University gunman, the network's Kaitlan Collins took to social media, highlighting the uncertainty and pointing viewers to her channel's 9pm newscast.
Although the network is hardly a impeccable news source, her statement seemed accurate to many. It stands as one of the broadcasters where you can find grounded and generally dependable reporting – especially during crises such as the one taking place in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Vulnerable Situation During a High-Stakes Struggle
Yet the news network, now middle-aged, finds itself in a precarious state as two huge media empires vie for ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
No matter the result, the future of CNN has become part of a high-stakes game of business acquisition, rather than as a question of what benefits the news-consuming public.
“Here is one more case of the deep structural problems with origins in decades of regulatory actions,” noted Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Penn.
The conjecture about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a larger point.
“The narrative is crafted as a business story with key players as the main characters, but there is hardly any discussion of the common good,” Pickard said.
The Additional Element: Donald Trump
This situation is complicated by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his chief “fake news” antagonist.
Remember the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his administration’s punitive suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in press briefings.
Trump now claims that the network requires new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will shield him from journalistic oversight. That is part of why he appears to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
He has grounds 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.
The company, owner of CBS News, also recently installed the conservative Bari Weiss, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that historic news network.
An Outcome of Continued Turmoil
Notably, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a independent unit. That would be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s far from a safe harbor. That setup could position CNN for another sale. The cycle continues.
If you ask Timothy Wu, a lot of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that competition laws should disallow both deals.
“Both acquisition attempts would be harmful to the country, and both should be opposed by regulators,” Wu recently wrote.
The Core Issue and a Potential Solution
No matter the outcome in this situation, the underlying crisis remains.
“The present media landscape is a very system hostile to democracy, but we ought not succumb to a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard noted. Government actions – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this overly commercial monster, and different policy decisions can tackle it.
Is this likely in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Overhaul is a distant prospect now, but that is not to say it will be impossible forever.
Policies that strengthen independent news organizations, aid local journalism, subsidize public media, and prohibit the concentration of media power in a handful of hands are achievable – they are vital for a robust democracy.
Regarding media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations including CNN shouldn’t be tools in the latest merger game.
