Late Thursday, while unconfirmed reports spread about the Brown University gunman, the network's Kaitlan Collins took to social media, pointing out the conflicting information and guiding the public to her network’s 9pm newscast.
While the network is hardly a flawless news source, her statement rang true to many. It is one of the broadcasters where there exists grounded and mostly dependable reporting – notably during fast-moving events like the one taking place in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.
An Uncertain Position Amid a High-Stakes Battle
Yet the news network, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a vulnerable position as two huge media empires vie for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the fate of CNN has become part of a major game of corporate ownership, rather than as a question of what helps the information-seeking public.
“This is yet another example of the deep structural problems with roots in many years of policy decisions,” stated Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy at the Pennsylvania University.
The conjecture about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a larger point.
“It gets presented as a financial tale with key players as the protagonists, but there is scant discussion of the public interest,” Pickard said.
The Complicating Layer: The Former President
The network's predicament is further muddied by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his primary “fake news” adversary.
Remember the chants of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his administration’s punitive revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in press briefings.
Trump now claims that the network requires new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will insulate him from criticism and scrutiny. That is a factor in why he appears to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.
Trump has reason to like that suitor more. For one thing, it is led by David Ellison, son of the Trump-friendly Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
The company, parent of CBS News, also recently appointed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that historic news network.
A Future of More Turmoil
Notably, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a standalone company. Such a move could be a relief to many at the network, but it’s hardly a secure position. That setup could pave the way for CNN for a future sale. 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 challenged by anti-trust authorities,” Wu argued.
The Fundamental Challenge and a Way Ahead
Whatever happens regarding CNN, the underlying crisis endures.
“What we have now is a highly structure that undermines democracy, but we ought not succumb to a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard said. Government actions – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this profit-obsessed monster, and revised policy decisions can tackle it.
Is this likely in an era where the head of the FCC won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Change is a distant prospect now, but that doesn’t mean it will be impossible forever.
Policies that bolster independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, fund public media, and prevent the consolidation of media power in very few hands are not only possible – they are vital for a healthy democracy.
When it comes to media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations such as CNN must not be pieces in the newest corporate chess match.
