Late Thursday, while unconfirmed reports spread regarding the Brown University gunman, the network's Kaitlan Collins used social media, noting the confusion and guiding the public to her channel's 9pm newscast.
Even though the network is hardly a perfect news source, her message resonated for numerous observers. It stands as one of the outlets where one can locate fact-based and generally trustworthy reporting – especially during crises such as the one developing near a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious State During a Business Battle
However the news network, now 45 years old, finds itself in a precarious state as two giant media corporations battle over ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the future of CNN has become part of a high-stakes game of mergers and acquisitions, not as a question of what helps the news-consuming public.
“Here is one more case of the fundamental flaws with origins in decades of regulatory actions,” noted Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the University of Pennsylvania.
The speculation about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a more important point.
“It is often framed as a business story with key players as the protagonists, but there is hardly any discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard explained.
The Complicating Element: Political Influence
The network's predicament is made more complex by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his chief “fake news” adversary.
Think back to the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his administration's retaliatory revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in White House briefings.
Trump now claims that CNN needs new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will protect him from criticism and scrutiny. That is part of why he seems to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.
He has grounds to prefer 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.
The company, owner of CBS News, also recently installed the conservative Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that storied news network.
An Outcome of More Uncertainty
Significantly, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a independent unit. This might be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s hardly a guarantee of stability. That arrangement could set up CNN for another sale. It never ends.
In the view of Timothy Wu, much of this is against the law, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance stated that competition laws should prohibit both deals.
“Each proposed deal would be detrimental to the country, and both should be contested by the government,” Wu stated.
The Core Issue and a Way Ahead
Regardless of the resolution with this particular battle, the larger issue remains.
“Our current system is a profoundly structure that undermines democracy, but we shouldn’t give in to learned helplessness,” Pickard emphasized. Regulatory choices – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this profit-obsessed monster, and different policy decisions can tackle it.
Can reform occur in an era where the top communications regulator won’t even affirm 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, reinforce local journalism, fund public media, and prevent the consolidation of media power in a handful of hands are not only possible – they are necessary for a functioning democracy.
When it comes to media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations like CNN cannot be tools in the latest acquisition battle.
