Late Thursday, amid swirling speculation regarding an incident at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins used social media, noting the confusion and guiding the public to her channel's 9pm newscast.
While the network is hardly a perfect news source, her message resonated for numerous observers. It remains one of the outlets where you can find fact-based and mostly dependable reporting – notably during crises such as the one taking place in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Vulnerable Position Amid a Corporate Tug-of-War
Yet CNN, now middle-aged, finds itself in a vulnerable position as two massive media empires battle over ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
Regardless of who wins, the fate of CNN has been drawn into a high-stakes game of mergers and acquisitions, instead of as a question of what helps the news-consuming public.
“Here is one more case of the deep structural problems with roots in decades of regulatory actions,” stated Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy at the Penn.
The speculation about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a more important point.
“It is often framed as a business story with powerful individuals as the main characters, but there is very little discussion of the public interest,” Pickard said.
The Additional Layer: Political Influence
The network's predicament is complicated by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his main “fake news” foe.
Remember the cries of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his team's disciplinary revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in official meetings.
Trump now says that the network requires new ownership. Many see this as a desire for ownership that will insulate him from criticism and scrutiny. That is one reason why he appears to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
Trump has reason to favor that suitor more. For one thing, it is led by David Ellison, son of the pro-Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
Paramount, owner of CBS News, also recently appointed the conservative Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that venerable news network.
A Future of Continued Instability
It is important to note, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a standalone company. This might be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a safe harbor. That arrangement could set up CNN for yet another acquisition. The cycle continues.
In the view of Timothy Wu, much of this is illegal, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance recently argued that competition laws should disallow both deals.
“Each proposed deal would be harmful to the country, and both should be challenged by the government,” Wu stated.
The Fundamental Issue and a Potential Solution
Whatever happens regarding CNN, the underlying crisis endures.
“What we have now is a highly system hostile to democracy, but we shouldn’t give in to learned helplessness,” Pickard noted. Regulatory choices – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this hyper-commercialized monster, and new policy decisions can tackle it.
Is this likely in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair will not confirm that the agency is independent? Change is a distant prospect now, but that is not to say it will never happen.
Initiatives that support independent news organizations, aid local journalism, subsidize public media, and outlaw the accumulation of media power in very few hands are achievable – they are essential for a functioning democracy.
In the world of media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations including CNN shouldn’t be tools in the latest merger game.
