Late Thursday, while unconfirmed reports spread regarding an incident at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins took to social media, noting the confusion and pointing viewers to her network’s 9pm newscast.
While the network is hardly a flawless news source, her statement resonated for a lot of people. It is one of the organizations where you can find grounded and mostly dependable reporting – notably during crises such as the one developing close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious State During a High-Stakes Tug-of-War
However CNN, now middle-aged, finds itself in a precarious state as two giant media corporations battle over ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
No matter the result, the destiny of CNN has been drawn into a major game of mergers and acquisitions, not as a question of what helps the news-consuming public.
“This represents another instance of the deep structural problems with roots in decades of policy decisions,” said Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy at the University of Pennsylvania.
The speculation about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a broader point.
“It gets presented as a business story with key players as the central actors, but there is hardly any discussion of the public interest,” Pickard said.
A Further Element: Political Influence
The CNN scenario is complicated by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his chief “fake news” foe.
Think back to the chants of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his team's disciplinary suspension 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. This can be interpreted as ownership that will shield him from journalistic oversight. That is one reason why he seems to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.
There is a basis to like 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.
Paramount, parent of CBS News, also recently appointed the conservative Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that historic news network.
An Outcome of Further Turmoil
Significantly, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a independent unit. Such a move could be a relief to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a safe harbor. That arrangement could set up CNN for yet another acquisition. There is no finish line.
In the view of Timothy Wu, much of this is illegal, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that competition laws should prohibit both deals.
“Either merger would be bad for the country, and both should be challenged by regulators,” Wu argued.
The Fundamental Problem and a Potential Solution
Regardless of the resolution with this particular battle, the bigger problem endures.
“The present media landscape is a highly system hostile to democracy, but we shouldn’t give in to the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard noted. Government actions – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this hyper-commercialized monster, and revised policy decisions can fix it.
Is this likely in an era where the top communications regulator won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Reform is very unlikely now, but that doesn’t mean it will never happen.
Initiatives that bolster independent news organizations, aid local journalism, finance public media, and prevent the concentration of media power in very few hands are achievable – they are vital for a robust democracy.
In the world of media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations such as CNN cannot be tools in the latest acquisition battle.
