On Thursday evening, amid swirling speculation about an incident at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins took to social media, pointing out the conflicting information and guiding the public to her channel's 9pm newscast.
While CNN is certainly not a perfect news source, her words resonated to many. It remains one of the broadcasters where one can locate fact-based and largely reliable reporting – particularly during breaking news situations such as the one taking place close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Vulnerable State Amid a Business Battle
However CNN, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a vulnerable state as two huge media corporations battle over ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
No matter the result, the future of CNN has become part of a high-risk game of business acquisition, not as a question of what benefits the information-seeking public.
“This represents another instance of the profound systemic issues with roots in decades of policy decisions,” noted Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the Pennsylvania University.
The debate about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – could it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a broader point.
“It is often framed as a financial tale with key players as the main characters, but there is hardly any discussion of the public interest,” Pickard said.
The Additional Layer: Political Influence
The CNN scenario is complicated by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his main “fake news” adversary.
Remember the cries of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his administration's retaliatory withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in press briefings.
Trump now says that the network requires new ownership. Many see this as a desire for ownership that will insulate him from negative coverage and examination. That is part of why he appears to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.
He has grounds to prefer that bidder more. For one thing, it is run by David Ellison, son of the ally of Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
The company, parent of CBS News, also recently placed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that venerable news network.
A Future of Continued Turmoil
Notably, if Netflix prevails, 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 not exactly a safe harbor. That arrangement could set up CNN for another sale. It never ends.
According to Timothy Wu, a lot of this is illegal, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that anti-trust laws should prohibit both deals.
“Each proposed deal 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 underlying crisis endures.
“Our current system is a very system hostile to democracy, but we shouldn’t give in to learned helplessness,” Pickard said. Policy decisions – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this hyper-commercialized monster, and different policy decisions can tackle it.
Can reform occur in an era where the top communications regulator refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Change is highly improbable now, but that should not imply it will never happen.
Measures that strengthen independent news organizations, aid local journalism, subsidize public media, and prevent the accumulation of media power in too few hands are within reach – they are essential for a functioning democracy.
Regarding media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations such as CNN shouldn’t be tools in the latest merger game.
