This past Thursday night, while unconfirmed reports spread concerning an incident at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins took to social media, pointing out the conflicting information and guiding the public to her channel's 9pm newscast.
While CNN is certainly not a perfect news source, her statement seemed accurate to many. It remains one of the outlets where there exists fact-based and mostly reliable reporting – notably during crises like the one taking place near a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious State During a Corporate Tug-of-War
But the news network, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a vulnerable position as two huge media empires compete for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
No matter the result, the future of CNN has been drawn into a major game of business acquisition, rather than as a question of what benefits the information-seeking public.
“Here is one more case of the fundamental flaws 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 University of Pennsylvania.
The conjecture about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a larger point.
“It gets presented as a business story with influential figures as the central actors, but there is very little discussion of the public interest,” Pickard added.
A Further Factor: Political Influence
The network's predicament is made more complex by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his primary “fake news” antagonist.
Recall the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his team's disciplinary revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in official meetings.
Trump now says that CNN needs new ownership. Many see this as a desire for ownership that will insulate him from criticism and scrutiny. That is one reason why he seems to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.
He has grounds to favor 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, owner of CBS News, also recently placed the conservative Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that storied news network.
A Future of Continued Turmoil
It is important to note, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a standalone company. This might be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s hardly a secure position. That setup could pave the way for CNN for yet another acquisition. It never ends.
If you ask Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is against the law, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that competition laws should prohibit both deals.
“Each proposed deal would be bad for the country, and both should be contested by the government,” Wu argued.
The Bigger Problem and a Potential Solution
Regardless of the resolution regarding CNN, the underlying crisis persists.
“What we have now is a highly anti-democratic system, but we must resist a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard noted. Policy decisions – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this hyper-commercialized monster, and revised policy decisions can tackle it.
Will that happen in an era where the top communications regulator won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Overhaul is very unlikely now, but that should not imply it will not happen in the future.
Policies that strengthen independent news organizations, aid local journalism, fund public media, and prohibit the accumulation of media power in a handful of hands are not only possible – they are essential for a robust democracy.
Regarding media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations such as CNN shouldn’t be pieces in the newest corporate chess match.
