Late Thursday, while unconfirmed reports spread about a shooting at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins took to social media, pointing out the conflicting information and pointing viewers to her channel's 9pm newscast.
While CNN is certainly not a flawless news source, her message rang true to many. It remains one of the broadcasters where you can find fact-based and mostly trustworthy reporting – notably during crises such as the one unfolding in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious Position During a Corporate Tug-of-War
However CNN, now middle-aged, finds itself in a uncertain state as two massive media conglomerates compete for ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
No matter the result, the fate of CNN has been drawn into a high-stakes game of mergers and acquisitions, rather than as a question of what helps the information-seeking public.
“This is yet another example of the deep structural problems with origins in decades of regulatory actions,” stated Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy at the Penn.
The speculation about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – could it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a more important point.
“It is often framed as a business story with key players as the central actors, but there is scant discussion of the common good,” Pickard added.
The Complicating Layer: Political Influence
The CNN scenario is complicated by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his main “fake news” foe.
Think back to the shouts 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 official meetings.
Trump now says that the network requires new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will shield him from criticism and scrutiny. That is part of why he seems to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.
He has grounds to like that bidder more. For one thing, it is led 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 placed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that historic news network.
An Outcome of Further Uncertainty
Notably, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a independent unit. That would be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s far from a safe harbor. That setup could set up CNN for yet another acquisition. The cycle continues.
If you ask Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is illegal, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that competition laws should block both deals.
“Each proposed deal would be harmful to the country, and both should be contested by anti-trust authorities,” Wu stated.
The Bigger Challenge and a Potential Solution
No matter the outcome with this particular battle, the bigger problem persists.
“Our current system is a profoundly system hostile to democracy, but we ought not succumb to a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard said. Government actions – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this hyper-commercialized monster, and new policy decisions can fix it.
Will that happen in an era where the top communications regulator will not confirm that the agency is independent? Change is very unlikely now, but that doesn’t mean it will not happen in the future.
Policies that support independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, finance public media, and outlaw the consolidation 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 such as CNN shouldn’t be pieces in the most recent corporate chess match.
