This past Thursday night, amid swirling speculation about an incident at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, highlighting the uncertainty and guiding the public to her network’s 9pm newscast.
While it is by no means a flawless news source, her message rang true to many. It remains one of the outlets where you can find grounded and largely reliable reporting – notably during breaking news situations such as the one developing near a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious Situation Amid a Corporate Struggle
However the news network, now 45 years old, finds itself in a precarious position as two massive media empires battle over ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the future of CNN has turned into a major game of mergers and acquisitions, instead of as a question of what benefits the information-seeking public.
“Here is one more case of the deep structural problems with origins in many years of policy decisions,” stated Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the Penn.
The conjecture about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a broader point.
“It gets presented as a business story with powerful individuals as the protagonists, but there is very little discussion of the common good,” Pickard explained.
A Further Element: Political Influence
The network's predicament is made more complex by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his chief “fake news” antagonist.
Recall the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his administration’s punitive revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in press briefings.
Trump now asserts that CNN needs new ownership. Many see this as a desire for ownership that will protect him from negative coverage and examination. That is a factor in why he appears to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.
There is a basis 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.
Paramount, owner of CBS News, also recently installed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that venerable news network.
An Outcome of Continued Turmoil
It is important to note, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a independent unit. That would be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s hardly a guarantee of stability. That setup could position CNN for another sale. There is no finish line.
If you ask Timothy Wu, much 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 detrimental to the country, and both should be contested by the government,” Wu recently wrote.
The Fundamental Issue and a Way Ahead
Regardless of the resolution regarding CNN, the underlying crisis persists.
“What we have now is a highly system hostile to democracy, but we shouldn’t give in to learned helplessness,” Pickard said. Regulatory choices – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this hyper-commercialized monster, and revised policy decisions can tackle it.
Can reform occur in an era where the head of the FCC refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Reform is a distant prospect now, but that is not to say it will be impossible forever.
Policies that support independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, finance public media, and prohibit the accumulation of media power in very few hands are achievable – they are vital for a robust democracy.
When it comes to media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations including CNN shouldn’t be tools in the latest merger game.
