This past Thursday night, as rumors swirled concerning a shooting at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins took to social media, pointing out the conflicting information and directing people to her channel's 9pm newscast.
While CNN is certainly not a perfect news source, her words resonated to many. It remains one of the outlets where one can locate reality-based and largely trustworthy reporting – particularly during crises such as the one developing near a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious State During a Corporate Struggle
But CNN, now 45 years old, finds itself in a uncertain state as two giant media corporations compete for ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
Regardless of who wins, the future of CNN has been drawn into a major game of mergers and acquisitions, instead of as a question of what serves the news-consuming public.
“Here is one more case of the fundamental flaws with roots in many years of policy decisions,” noted Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy at the University of Pennsylvania.
The speculation about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a more important point.
“It gets presented as a business story with powerful individuals as the central actors, but there is very little discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard said.
The Complicating Factor: Donald Trump
The CNN scenario is complicated by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his main “fake news” adversary.
Recall the cries of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his team's disciplinary revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in official meetings.
Trump now claims 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 appears to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.
Trump has reason to prefer 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 installed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that storied news network.
A Possibility of More Uncertainty
Notably, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a separate entity. Such a move could be a relief to many at the network, but it’s hardly a safe harbor. That arrangement could position CNN for yet another acquisition. The cycle continues.
If you ask Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that anti-trust laws should disallow both deals.
“Both acquisition attempts would be harmful to the country, and both should be opposed by the government,” Wu recently wrote.
The Fundamental Challenge and a Path Forward
No matter the outcome with this particular battle, the underlying crisis endures.
“Our current system is a highly structure that undermines democracy, but we ought not succumb to the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard noted. Policy decisions – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this profit-obsessed monster, and revised policy decisions can address it.
Will that happen in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair will not confirm that the agency is independent? Reform is highly improbable now, but that doesn’t mean it will be impossible forever.
Initiatives that bolster independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, fund public media, and prohibit the consolidation of media power in too few hands are achievable – they are vital for a robust democracy.
When it comes to media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations like CNN cannot be tools in the newest merger game.