This past Thursday night, as rumors swirled regarding 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.
Even though CNN is certainly not a flawless news source, her statement resonated for a lot of people. It stands as one of the organizations where you can find fact-based and mostly dependable reporting – particularly during crises such as the one unfolding near a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious Position During a Business Tug-of-War
However CNN, now middle-aged, finds itself in a precarious situation as two huge media conglomerates compete for ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
Regardless of who wins, the destiny of CNN has become part of a major game of corporate ownership, instead of as a question of what helps the information-seeking public.
“This is yet another example of the deep structural problems with origins in many years of governmental choices,” stated Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy at the Penn.
The debate about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a broader point.
“It is often framed as a business story with powerful individuals as the central actors, but there is hardly any discussion of the public interest,” Pickard added.
The Complicating Element: The Former President
The network's predicament is made more complex by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his primary “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 clashes with Collins in White House briefings.
Trump now asserts that CNN needs new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will protect him from journalistic oversight. That is a factor in why he seems to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.
He has grounds to like 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.
Paramount, owner of CBS News, also recently appointed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that historic news network.
An Outcome of Continued Uncertainty
Significantly, if Netflix is successful, 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 not exactly a guarantee of stability. That arrangement could pave the way for CNN for another sale. There is no finish line.
If you ask Timothy Wu, much of this is illegal, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance recently argued that competition laws should prohibit both deals.
“Each proposed deal would be bad for the country, and both should be challenged by the government,” Wu stated.
The Core Challenge and a Potential Solution
Whatever happens in this situation, the larger issue persists.
“The present media landscape is a highly anti-democratic system, but we must resist the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard said. Government actions – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this profit-obsessed monster, and revised policy decisions can fix it.
Will that happen in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair will not confirm that the agency is independent? Change is highly improbable now, but that doesn’t mean it will never happen.
Initiatives that support independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, finance public media, and prevent the accumulation of media power in too few hands are achievable – they are essential for a functioning democracy.
When it comes to media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations such as CNN must not be pieces in the newest merger game.
