Late Thursday, while unconfirmed reports spread concerning an incident at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins used social media, pointing out the conflicting information and directing people to her channel's 9pm newscast.
While it is by no means a impeccable news source, her words seemed accurate for a lot of people. It is one of the broadcasters where there exists reality-based and generally reliable reporting – notably during breaking news situations such as the one developing in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Vulnerable Position During a High-Stakes Battle
Yet CNN, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a vulnerable position as two giant media empires vie for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the future of CNN has been drawn into a high-risk game of corporate ownership, rather than as a question of what serves the news-consuming public.
“This represents another instance of the deep structural problems with origins in many years of regulatory actions,” noted Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy at the University of Pennsylvania.
The speculation about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a larger point.
“It is often framed as a business story with powerful individuals as the main characters, but there is scant discussion of the public interest,” Pickard explained.
The Complicating Factor: The Former President
The network's predicament is complicated by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his chief “fake news” adversary.
Think back to the chants of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his administration's retaliatory suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in official meetings.
Trump now asserts that CNN needs new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will protect him from journalistic oversight. That is a factor in why he seems to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
He has grounds to like that suitor 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.
Paramount, owner of CBS News, also recently installed the conservative Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that venerable news network.
A Future of Further Turmoil
Significantly, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a standalone company. Such a move could be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s far from a safe harbor. That arrangement could position CNN for yet another acquisition. The cycle continues.
If you ask Timothy Wu, a great deal 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.
“Either merger would be detrimental to the country, and both should be opposed by regulators,” Wu recently wrote.
The Fundamental Problem and a Potential Solution
Whatever happens regarding CNN, the larger issue endures.
“Our current system is a profoundly anti-democratic system, but we ought not succumb to learned helplessness,” Pickard noted. Regulatory choices – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this hyper-commercialized monster, and revised policy decisions can tackle it.
Will that happen in an era where the top communications regulator won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Reform is highly improbable now, but that should not imply it will not happen in the future.
Policies that support independent news organizations, aid local journalism, fund public media, and prohibit the consolidation of media power in too few hands are within reach – they are necessary for a healthy democracy.
Regarding media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations like CNN must not be tools in the newest acquisition battle.
