On Thursday evening, while unconfirmed reports spread concerning the Brown University gunman, the network's Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, highlighting the uncertainty and pointing viewers to her channel's 9pm newscast.
Although the network is hardly a perfect news source, her message rang true for numerous observers. It remains one of the organizations where one can locate reality-based and largely dependable reporting – especially during breaking news situations such as the one taking place near a New Hampshire storage facility.
An Uncertain Situation Amid a Business Battle
Yet CNN, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a vulnerable position as two huge media conglomerates vie for ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
Regardless of who wins, the fate of CNN has been drawn into a high-stakes game of mergers and acquisitions, not as a question of what benefits the information-seeking public.
“This represents another instance of the profound systemic issues with origins in many years of policy decisions,” noted Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Pennsylvania University.
The debate about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a broader point.
“It is often framed as a financial tale with key players as the central actors, but there is scant discussion of the public interest,” Pickard added.
The Complicating Element: Political Influence
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.
Remember the chants of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his team's disciplinary revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in White House briefings.
Trump now says that CNN needs new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will protect him from journalistic oversight. That is part of why he seems to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
He has grounds to prefer that company more. For one thing, it is run by David Ellison, son of the pro-Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
Paramount, parent of CBS News, also recently placed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that historic news network.
A Future of More Uncertainty
It is important to note, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a separate entity. Such a move could be a relief to many at the network, but it’s far from a safe harbor. That arrangement could position CNN for yet another acquisition. There is no finish line.
According to Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is illegal, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance recently argued that competition laws should prohibit both deals.
“Each proposed deal would be harmful to the country, and both should be contested by anti-trust authorities,” Wu recently wrote.
The Bigger Challenge and a Path Forward
Regardless of the resolution in this situation, the underlying crisis persists.
“Our current system is a highly anti-democratic system, but we must resist the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard noted. Policy decisions – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this profit-obsessed monster, and new policy decisions can tackle it.
Will that happen in an era where the head of the FCC 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.
Initiatives that strengthen independent news organizations, aid local journalism, finance public media, and prevent the accumulation of media power in very few hands are not only possible – they are necessary for a robust democracy.
When it comes to media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations such as CNN shouldn’t be tools in the newest merger game.
