This past Thursday night, while unconfirmed reports spread concerning an incident at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, noting the confusion and directing people to her channel's 9pm newscast.
Although it is by no means a flawless news source, her words resonated to many. It is one of the organizations where there exists grounded and generally trustworthy reporting – notably during crises like the one taking place near a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious Situation Amid a High-Stakes Struggle
However CNN, now 45 years old, finds itself in a uncertain state as two huge media empires vie for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Regardless of who wins, the fate of CNN has turned into a major game of corporate ownership, rather than as a question of what benefits the information-seeking public.
“Here is one more case of the fundamental flaws with roots in decades of regulatory actions,” noted Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Penn.
The debate about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – could it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a larger point.
“The narrative is crafted as a financial tale with influential figures as the central actors, but there is hardly any discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard said.
A Further Factor: Donald Trump
The CNN scenario is complicated by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his primary “fake news” antagonist.
Recall the chants of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his administration’s punitive withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his clashes with Collins in press briefings.
Trump now claims that CNN needs new ownership. Many see this as a desire for ownership that will protect him from journalistic oversight. That is part of why he appears to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.
There is a basis to favor that bidder 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 installed the conservative Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that historic news network.
An Outcome of Further Uncertainty
Significantly, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a separate entity. That would be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a secure position. That arrangement could pave the way for CNN for yet another acquisition. The cycle continues.
In the view of Timothy Wu, a lot of this is against the law, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance recently argued that competition laws should prohibit both deals.
“Each proposed deal would be detrimental to the country, and both should be contested by regulators,” Wu recently wrote.
The Core Issue and a Potential Solution
Whatever happens with this particular battle, the larger issue endures.
“What we have now is a very anti-democratic system, but we must resist a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard said. Policy decisions – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this profit-obsessed monster, and different 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 highly improbable now, but that is not to say it will not happen in the future.
Initiatives that strengthen independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, fund public media, and outlaw the consolidation of media power in a handful of hands are achievable – they are vital for a healthy democracy.
Regarding media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations such as CNN must not be pawns in the newest corporate chess match.
