On Thursday evening, while unconfirmed reports spread regarding an incident at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, noting the confusion and pointing viewers to her channel's 9pm newscast.
While it is by no means a perfect news source, her words rang true for a lot of people. It remains one of the broadcasters where you can find grounded and largely reliable reporting – notably during fast-moving events such as the one developing close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Vulnerable State During a Business Tug-of-War
However the news network, now middle-aged, finds itself in a precarious situation as two massive media corporations compete for ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
No matter the result, the future of CNN has been drawn into a high-risk game of corporate ownership, not as a question of what helps the news-consuming public.
“Here is one more case of the fundamental flaws with roots in many years of policy decisions,” stated Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Penn.
The conjecture about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a more important point.
“The narrative is crafted as a corporate drama with powerful individuals as the main characters, but there is very little discussion of the common good,” Pickard explained.
A Further Factor: Political Influence
This situation is further muddied by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his main “fake news” foe.
Think back to the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his administration’s punitive suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his clashes with Collins in official meetings.
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 support Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
He has grounds to like that suitor more. For one thing, it is run 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 placed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that venerable news network.
A Future of More Instability
Notably, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a standalone company. This might be a relief to many at the network, but it’s far from a secure position. That setup could pave the way for CNN for a future sale. The cycle continues.
If you ask Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is illegal, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that competition laws should disallow both deals.
“Each proposed deal would be bad for the country, and both should be contested by regulators,” Wu recently wrote.
The Core Issue and a Way Ahead
No matter the outcome in this situation, the bigger problem remains.
“The present media landscape is a very anti-democratic system, but we must resist learned helplessness,” Pickard said. Government actions – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this hyper-commercialized monster, and new policy decisions can tackle it.
Can reform occur in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair will not confirm that the agency is independent? Overhaul is very unlikely now, but that doesn’t mean it will not happen in the future.
Policies that support independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, fund public media, and outlaw the consolidation of media power in too few hands are not only possible – they are necessary for a healthy democracy.
Regarding media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations including CNN shouldn’t be pawns in the latest merger game.
