This past Thursday night, as rumors swirled regarding a shooting at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins used social media, noting the confusion and pointing viewers to her channel's 9pm newscast.
While it is by no means a impeccable news source, her words rang true for numerous observers. It is one of the outlets where you can find fact-based and mostly trustworthy reporting – particularly during fast-moving events like the one unfolding in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.
An Uncertain Position Amid a High-Stakes Battle
But the news network, now middle-aged, finds itself in a uncertain situation as two massive media conglomerates vie for ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
Regardless of who wins, the fate of CNN has become part of a high-stakes game of business acquisition, rather than as a question of what benefits the news-consuming public.
“Here is one more case of the deep structural problems with roots in many years of policy decisions,” noted Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the Penn.
The speculation about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – could it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a broader point.
“It is often framed as a business story with influential figures as the main characters, but there is hardly any discussion of the common good,” Pickard said.
A Further Layer: The Former President
The CNN scenario is further muddied by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his primary “fake news” foe.
Remember the cries of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his team's disciplinary withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in official meetings.
Trump now asserts that the network requires new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will shield him from criticism and scrutiny. That is one reason why he appears to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.
There is a basis to prefer that company more. For one thing, it is controlled by David Ellison, son of the pro-Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
The company, parent of CBS News, also recently appointed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that historic news network.
A Possibility of Continued Turmoil
It is important to note, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a standalone company. That would be a relief to many at the network, but it’s hardly a safe harbor. That structure could pave the way for CNN for another sale. There is no finish line.
According to Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that competition laws should block both deals.
“Either merger would be bad for the country, and both should be challenged by the government,” Wu argued.
The Bigger Problem and a Potential Solution
Regardless of the resolution regarding CNN, the larger issue remains.
“What we have now is a highly anti-democratic system, but we must resist learned helplessness,” Pickard emphasized. Government actions – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this hyper-commercialized monster, and new policy decisions can tackle it.
Will that happen in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Change is very unlikely now, but that doesn’t mean it will never happen.
Policies that bolster independent news organizations, aid local journalism, finance public media, and prevent the concentration of media power in a handful of hands are within reach – they are essential for a robust democracy.
When it comes to media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations like CNN must not be tools in the most recent acquisition battle.
