Late Thursday, amid swirling speculation concerning an incident at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins used social media, pointing out the conflicting information and guiding the public to her network’s 9pm newscast.
While the network is hardly a flawless news source, her statement rang true to many. It remains one of the outlets where you can find grounded and generally dependable reporting – particularly during crises like the one unfolding in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Vulnerable Situation During a Business Battle
However CNN, now middle-aged, finds itself in a precarious state as two huge media corporations vie for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
No matter the result, the destiny of CNN has been drawn into a high-risk game of corporate ownership, not as a question of what serves the information-seeking public.
“Here is one more case of the fundamental flaws with roots in many years of governmental choices,” said 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? – overlooks a larger point.
“It gets presented as a financial tale with key players as the protagonists, but there is hardly any discussion of the common good,” Pickard added.
The Additional Layer: Donald Trump
This situation is made more complex by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his chief “fake news” foe.
Think back to the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his team's disciplinary revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in White House briefings.
Trump now says that the network requires new ownership. Many see this as a desire for ownership that will insulate him from criticism and scrutiny. That is part of why he seems to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
He has grounds to favor that suitor more. For one thing, it is led 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 appointed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that storied news network.
A Possibility of More Uncertainty
Significantly, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a standalone company. This might be a relief to many at the network, but it’s far from a secure position. That arrangement could set up CNN for a future sale. The cycle continues.
According to Timothy Wu, much of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that anti-trust laws should prohibit both deals.
“Either merger would be detrimental to the country, and both should be opposed by regulators,” Wu recently wrote.
The Core Problem and a Potential Solution
Whatever happens regarding CNN, the underlying crisis remains.
“Our current system is a very structure that undermines democracy, but we ought not succumb to learned helplessness,” Pickard noted. Regulatory choices – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this overly commercial monster, and different policy decisions can fix it.
Can reform occur in an era where the top communications regulator refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Change is a distant prospect now, but that is not to say it will never happen.
Measures that strengthen independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, subsidize public media, and prevent the concentration of media power in very few hands are within reach – they are essential for a healthy democracy.
When it comes to media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations such as CNN shouldn’t be pawns in the latest corporate chess match.
