On Thursday evening, as rumors swirled concerning the Brown University gunman, the network's Kaitlan Collins used social media, pointing out the conflicting information and guiding the public to her channel's 9pm newscast.
While CNN is certainly not a flawless news source, her statement seemed accurate for numerous observers. It remains one of the broadcasters where there exists grounded and largely reliable reporting – notably during crises such as the one taking place near a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious State Amid a High-Stakes Battle
Yet CNN, now middle-aged, finds itself in a uncertain position as two massive media empires battle over ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
Regardless of who wins, the future of CNN has turned into a major game of corporate ownership, not as a question of what benefits the news-consuming public.
“This represents another instance of the profound systemic issues with origins in many years of regulatory actions,” said Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy at the Penn.
The conjecture about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a larger point.
“It gets presented as a business story with influential figures as the main characters, but there is hardly any discussion of the common good,” Pickard added.
The Complicating Factor: Donald Trump
This situation is further muddied by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his primary “fake news” antagonist.
Remember the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his administration’s punitive suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his clashes with Collins in White House briefings.
Trump now asserts that the network requires new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will insulate him from negative coverage and examination. That is one reason why he seems to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.
There is a basis 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 installed the conservative Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that storied news network.
A Possibility of Further Turmoil
It is important to note, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a standalone company. This might be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a secure position. That structure could set up CNN for yet another acquisition. It never ends.
If you ask Timothy Wu, much of this is against the law, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that competition laws should block both deals.
“Each proposed deal would be detrimental to the country, and both should be opposed by the government,” Wu recently wrote.
The Fundamental Problem and a Potential Solution
No matter the outcome regarding CNN, the underlying crisis endures.
“What we have now is a very system hostile to democracy, but we shouldn’t give in to a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard emphasized. Regulatory choices – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this profit-obsessed monster, and different policy decisions can fix it.
Can reform occur in an era where the head of the FCC refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Overhaul is highly improbable now, but that should not imply it will never happen.
Policies that strengthen independent news organizations, aid local journalism, subsidize public media, and outlaw the concentration of media power in too few hands are achievable – they are vital for a functioning democracy.
Regarding media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations like CNN cannot be pieces in the newest merger game.
