Late Thursday, while unconfirmed reports spread regarding the Brown University gunman, the network's Kaitlan Collins took to social media, highlighting the uncertainty and directing people to her network’s 9pm newscast.
Although CNN is certainly not a perfect news source, her message seemed accurate to many. It remains one of the broadcasters where there exists grounded and generally trustworthy reporting – especially during breaking news situations such as the one unfolding in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious State During a Corporate Struggle
But CNN, now middle-aged, finds itself in a uncertain situation as two huge media corporations battle over ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
No matter the result, the future of CNN has become part of a major game of corporate ownership, rather than as a question of what helps 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 debate about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a more important point.
“It gets presented as a business story with key players as the main characters, but there is very little discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard said.
The Complicating Factor: Donald Trump
The network's predicament is complicated by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his chief “fake news” antagonist.
Think back to the chants of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his team's disciplinary suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in press briefings.
Trump now says that the network requires new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will shield him from journalistic oversight. That is part of why he appears to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
He has grounds to favor that company more. For one thing, it is run by David Ellison, son of the ally of Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
Paramount, owner of CBS News, also recently installed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that storied news network.
An Outcome of Further Uncertainty
It is important to note, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a independent unit. Such a move could be a relief to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a safe harbor. That structure could position CNN for yet another acquisition. There is no finish line.
According to Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is against the law, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance recently argued that anti-trust laws should prohibit both deals.
“Either merger would be bad for the country, and both should be contested by anti-trust authorities,” Wu recently wrote.
The Fundamental Challenge and a Potential Solution
Regardless of the resolution in this situation, the bigger problem endures.
“The present media landscape is a profoundly system hostile to democracy, but we ought not succumb to a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard noted. Policy decisions – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this hyper-commercialized monster, and different policy decisions can address it.
Is this likely in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Change is a distant prospect now, but that doesn’t mean it will never happen.
Policies that bolster independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, finance public media, and prevent the accumulation of media power in a handful of hands are achievable – they are essential for a robust democracy.
When it comes to media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations such as CNN shouldn’t be tools in the most recent acquisition battle.
