On Thursday evening, while unconfirmed reports spread concerning a shooting at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins posted on 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 message seemed accurate for a lot of people. It stands as one of the broadcasters where you can find reality-based and largely trustworthy reporting – notably during breaking news situations such as the one taking place close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Vulnerable Situation During a Business Struggle
However the news network, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a precarious state as two massive media conglomerates battle over ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
No matter the result, the future of CNN has become part of a major game of business acquisition, not as a question of what serves the information-seeking public.
“This is yet another example of the deep structural problems with origins in decades of policy decisions,” noted Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy at the Penn.
The speculation about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a more important point.
“It is often framed as a business story with influential figures as the main characters, but there is scant discussion of the common good,” Pickard explained.
The Additional Factor: The Former President
This situation is complicated by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his primary “fake news” foe.
Remember the chants 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 press briefings.
Trump now says that CNN needs new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will shield him from negative coverage and examination. That is a factor in why he appears to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.
There is a basis 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.
The company, parent of CBS News, also recently installed the conservative Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that venerable news network.
A Future of Continued Turmoil
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 far from a safe harbor. That arrangement could set up CNN for yet another acquisition. The cycle continues.
If you ask Timothy Wu, much of this is illegal, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance stated that competition laws should prohibit both deals.
“Each proposed deal would be harmful to the country, and both should be opposed by anti-trust authorities,” Wu recently wrote.
The Core Issue and a Potential Solution
No matter the outcome regarding CNN, the underlying crisis endures.
“Our current system is a highly structure that undermines democracy, but we must resist the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard said. Government actions – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this profit-obsessed 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? Overhaul is very unlikely now, but that is not to say it will never happen.
Policies that bolster independent news organizations, aid local journalism, fund public media, and prevent the accumulation of media power in a handful of hands are not only possible – they are vital for a robust democracy.
In the world of media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations like CNN shouldn’t be pawns in the latest merger game.