This past Thursday night, amid swirling speculation about an incident at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins took to social media, noting the confusion and directing people to her network’s 9pm newscast.
Although CNN is certainly not a flawless news source, her statement resonated for a lot of people. It remains one of the outlets where there exists grounded and mostly trustworthy reporting – especially during crises such as the one developing near a New Hampshire storage facility.
An Uncertain Situation During a Business Battle
Yet the news network, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a vulnerable state as two huge media conglomerates battle over ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the future of CNN has turned into a high-risk game of corporate ownership, instead of as a question of what benefits the news-consuming public.
“This is yet another example of the deep structural problems with roots in decades of regulatory actions,” noted Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Pennsylvania University.
The speculation about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – could it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a more important point.
“The narrative is crafted as a corporate drama with powerful individuals as the central actors, but there is hardly any discussion of the public interest,” Pickard explained.
A Further Layer: Political Influence
This situation is made more complex by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his primary “fake news” adversary.
Think back to the chants of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his administration’s punitive revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in press briefings.
Trump now asserts that CNN needs new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will insulate him from negative coverage and examination. That is a factor in why he seems to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.
Trump has reason to prefer that company more. For one thing, it is run 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 conservative Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that storied news network.
An Outcome of More Turmoil
Significantly, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a separate entity. Such a move could be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s hardly a secure position. That arrangement could pave the way for CNN for another 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 stated that anti-trust laws should disallow both deals.
“Each proposed deal would be harmful to the country, and both should be opposed by regulators,” Wu argued.
The Bigger Problem and a Way Ahead
Whatever happens in this situation, the underlying crisis remains.
“The present media landscape is a profoundly structure that undermines democracy, but we shouldn’t give in to learned helplessness,” Pickard noted. Regulatory choices – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this profit-obsessed monster, and revised policy decisions can address it.
Can reform occur in an era where the top communications regulator refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Change is a distant prospect now, but that should not imply it will be impossible forever.
Measures that support independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, subsidize public media, and prohibit the accumulation of media power in very few hands are within reach – they are essential for a robust democracy.
When it comes to media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations like CNN cannot be pieces in the newest corporate chess match.
