This past Thursday night, 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 network’s 9pm newscast.
While CNN is certainly not a impeccable news source, her message seemed accurate for numerous observers. It stands as one of the organizations where one can locate grounded and mostly trustworthy reporting – especially during crises like the one taking place near a New Hampshire storage facility.
An Uncertain Position Amid a Corporate Battle
But the news network, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a precarious state as two huge media corporations battle over ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
No matter the result, the fate of CNN has been drawn into a high-stakes game of mergers and acquisitions, rather than as a question of what serves the news-consuming public.
“This represents another instance of the deep structural problems with roots in many years of governmental choices,” stated Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Pennsylvania University.
The debate about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a more important point.
“The narrative is crafted as a corporate drama with powerful individuals as the protagonists, but there is very little discussion of the common good,” Pickard added.
The Complicating Layer: The Former President
This situation is made more complex by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his chief “fake news” foe.
Remember the cries 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 a factor in why he appears to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
Trump has reason to favor that company 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, owner of CBS News, also recently appointed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that historic news network.
An Outcome of Further Instability
Notably, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a separate entity. This might be a relief to many at the network, but it’s far from a guarantee of stability. That structure could set up CNN for another sale. It never ends.
In the view of Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is illegal, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that competition laws should block both deals.
“Either merger would be bad for the country, and both should be opposed by regulators,” Wu argued.
The Bigger Problem and a Way Ahead
No matter the outcome with this particular battle, the larger issue endures.
“What we have now is a highly anti-democratic system, but we must resist learned helplessness,” Pickard emphasized. Regulatory choices – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this overly commercial monster, and different policy decisions can fix it.
Will that happen in an era where the head of the FCC refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Overhaul is very unlikely now, but that is not to say it will never happen.
Measures that bolster independent news organizations, aid local journalism, subsidize public media, and outlaw the consolidation of media power in a handful of hands are within reach – they are necessary for a robust democracy.
Regarding media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations including CNN must not be pawns in the newest acquisition battle.
