Late Thursday, amid swirling speculation regarding a shooting at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins took to social media, pointing out the conflicting information and guiding the public to her network’s 9pm newscast.
Even though it is by no means a perfect news source, her statement rang true to many. It remains one of the outlets where there exists reality-based and generally trustworthy reporting – particularly during fast-moving events such as the one unfolding in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Vulnerable State Amid a Corporate Battle
But the news network, now 45 years old, finds itself in a precarious state as two giant media conglomerates vie for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the future of CNN has become part of a major game of corporate ownership, rather than as a question of what serves the news-consuming public.
“Here is one more case of the profound systemic issues with roots in decades of regulatory actions,” noted Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the University of Pennsylvania.
The speculation about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a broader point.
“It gets presented as a financial tale with key players as the protagonists, but there is hardly any discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard said.
The Complicating Element: The Former President
This situation is made more complex by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his main “fake news” antagonist.
Remember the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his team's disciplinary revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in official meetings.
Trump now says that CNN needs new ownership. Many see this as a desire for ownership that will shield him from criticism and scrutiny. That is part of why he seems to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.
Trump has reason to prefer that bidder more. For one thing, it is controlled by David Ellison, son of the Trump-friendly Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
Paramount, 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.
A Possibility of More Turmoil
Significantly, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a independent unit. That would be a relief to many at the network, but it’s far from a guarantee of stability. That arrangement could set up CNN for yet another acquisition. It never ends.
According to Timothy Wu, a lot of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance recently argued that competition laws should disallow both deals.
“Either merger would be detrimental to the country, and both should be challenged by anti-trust authorities,” Wu recently wrote.
The Core Issue and a Path Forward
No matter the outcome in this situation, the bigger problem remains.
“What we have now is a profoundly anti-democratic system, but we ought not succumb to the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard emphasized. Government actions – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this profit-obsessed monster, and different policy decisions can tackle it.
Is this likely in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair will not confirm 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, reinforce local journalism, finance public media, and prohibit the concentration of media power in very few hands are not only possible – they are essential for a robust democracy.
In the world of media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations including CNN shouldn’t be pawns in the latest corporate chess match.
