Late Thursday, amid swirling speculation concerning the Brown University gunman, the network's Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, highlighting the uncertainty and directing people to her network’s 9pm newscast.
While the network is hardly a impeccable news source, her message resonated to many. It is one of the organizations where one can locate grounded and mostly trustworthy reporting – especially during fast-moving events like the one developing in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.
An Uncertain Position Amid a High-Stakes Battle
Yet the news network, now 45 years old, finds itself in a vulnerable state as two giant media conglomerates battle over ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the destiny of CNN has become part of a major game of mergers and acquisitions, instead of as a question of what benefits the news-consuming public.
“This represents another instance of the profound systemic issues with origins in decades of governmental choices,” said Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the Penn.
The conjecture about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a larger point.
“The narrative is crafted as a financial tale with key players as the central actors, but there is scant discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard explained.
The Complicating Layer: The Former President
The network's predicament is complicated by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his primary “fake news” foe.
Recall the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his administration’s punitive withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his clashes with Collins in official meetings.
Trump now says that CNN needs new ownership. Many see this as a desire for ownership that will protect him from journalistic oversight. That is a factor in why he seems to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.
There is a basis to like that suitor 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 installed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that storied news network.
A Future of Further Uncertainty
It is important to note, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a separate entity. That would be a relief to many at the network, but it’s hardly a secure position. That arrangement could pave the way for CNN for a future sale. There is no finish line.
In the view of Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance stated that competition laws should disallow both deals.
“Either merger would be detrimental to the country, and both should be challenged by anti-trust authorities,” Wu recently wrote.
The Fundamental Problem and a Path Forward
Whatever happens in this situation, the larger issue persists.
“What we have now is a profoundly system hostile to democracy, but we must resist the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard emphasized. Policy decisions – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this profit-obsessed monster, and different policy decisions can address it.
Can reform occur in an era where the head of the FCC won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Change is highly improbable now, but that is not to say it will be impossible forever.
Policies that support independent news organizations, aid local journalism, subsidize public media, and prevent the consolidation of media power in too few hands are achievable – they are essential for a robust democracy.
When it comes to media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations including CNN cannot be pieces in the newest acquisition battle.
