This past Thursday night, as rumors swirled regarding the Brown University gunman, the network's Kaitlan Collins used social media, highlighting the uncertainty and directing people to her channel's 9pm newscast.
Although it is by no means a perfect news source, her statement seemed accurate for a lot of people. It remains one of the outlets where one can locate fact-based and mostly reliable reporting – particularly during breaking news situations such as the one unfolding close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious Situation During a Corporate Struggle
Yet the news network, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a uncertain state as two giant media empires compete for ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
No matter the result, the destiny of CNN has been drawn into a high-stakes game of mergers and acquisitions, instead of 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 governmental choices,” stated Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Pennsylvania University.
The conjecture about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a larger point.
“It is often framed as a financial tale with key players as the protagonists, but there is scant discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard said.
A Further Element: Political Influence
This situation is further muddied by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his primary “fake news” antagonist.
Recall the chants of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his team's disciplinary suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in official meetings.
Trump now claims that the network requires new ownership. Many see this as a desire for ownership that will insulate him from journalistic oversight. That is a factor in why he appears to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
There is a basis to prefer that bidder 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.
The company, parent of CBS News, also recently installed the conservative Bari Weiss, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that venerable news network.
A Possibility of Continued Instability
Significantly, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a standalone company. Such a move could be a relief to many at the network, but it’s hardly a guarantee of stability. That structure could position CNN for a future sale. The cycle continues.
According to Timothy Wu, much of this is against the law, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that competition laws should block both deals.
“Either merger would be bad for the country, and both should be opposed by the government,” Wu argued.
The Bigger Challenge and a Potential Solution
Regardless of the resolution regarding CNN, the underlying crisis endures.
“Our current system is a very anti-democratic system, but we ought not succumb to a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard said. Policy decisions – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this overly commercial monster, and revised policy decisions can address it.
Will that happen in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Overhaul is highly improbable now, but that should not imply it will be impossible forever.
Initiatives that strengthen independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, subsidize public media, and prevent the concentration of media power in a handful of hands are not only possible – they are vital for a robust democracy.
Regarding media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations including CNN must not be pawns in the most recent corporate chess match.
