On Thursday evening, amid swirling speculation concerning an incident at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins used social media, pointing out the conflicting information and directing people to her channel's 9pm newscast.
Although CNN is certainly not a flawless news source, her statement rang true for a lot of people. It remains one of the outlets where one can locate grounded and largely trustworthy reporting – especially during crises like the one taking place close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Vulnerable State Amid a Business Battle
Yet CNN, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a vulnerable state as two massive media corporations compete for ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the fate of CNN has been drawn into a high-risk game of business acquisition, not as a question of what serves the information-seeking public.
“This is yet another example of the deep structural problems with origins in many years of governmental choices,” said Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the University of Pennsylvania.
The conjecture about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – could it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a larger point.
“It is often framed as a financial tale with powerful individuals as the main characters, but there is scant discussion of the public interest,” Pickard said.
The Complicating Element: The Former President
The network's predicament is made more complex by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his chief “fake news” adversary.
Think back to the cries of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his administration’s punitive revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in White House briefings.
Trump now asserts that the network requires new ownership. Many see this as a desire for ownership that will insulate 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 like that bidder 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 appointed the conservative Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that storied news network.
An Outcome of Continued Uncertainty
It is important to note, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a independent unit. That would be a relief to many at the network, but it’s hardly a guarantee of stability. That setup could position CNN for yet another acquisition. The cycle continues.
In the view of Timothy Wu, a lot of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance recently argued that competition laws should block both deals.
“Each proposed deal would be detrimental to the country, and both should be contested by regulators,” Wu recently wrote.
The Fundamental Problem and a Path Forward
Whatever happens with this particular battle, the larger issue persists.
“The present media landscape is a very structure that undermines democracy, but we ought not succumb to a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard emphasized. Policy decisions – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this profit-obsessed monster, and new policy decisions can tackle it.
Will that happen in an era where the head of the FCC refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Reform is a distant prospect now, but that doesn’t mean it will never happen.
Measures that strengthen independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, finance public media, and prohibit the concentration of media power in too few hands are not only possible – they are vital for a functioning democracy.
In the world of media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations including CNN cannot be tools in the newest merger game.
