Late Thursday, amid swirling speculation about the Brown University gunman, the network's Kaitlan Collins used social media, pointing out the conflicting information and guiding the public to her channel's 9pm newscast.
While the network is hardly a flawless news source, her words resonated for numerous observers. It stands as one of the outlets where there exists grounded and generally dependable reporting – especially during crises such as the one unfolding near a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Vulnerable Situation During a High-Stakes Tug-of-War
However CNN, now 45 years old, finds itself in a vulnerable situation as two huge media corporations battle over ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the fate of CNN has become part of a high-risk game of corporate ownership, not as a question of what serves the information-seeking public.
“This is yet another example of the profound systemic issues with origins in many years of policy decisions,” stated Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the Penn.
The speculation about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – could it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a larger point.
“The narrative is crafted as a business story with powerful individuals as the main characters, but there is very little discussion of the common good,” Pickard explained.
The Additional Layer: The Former President
This situation is complicated by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his primary “fake news” adversary.
Remember the cries of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his administration’s punitive withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in White House briefings.
Trump now claims that the network requires new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will shield him from negative coverage and examination. 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 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.
The company, parent of CBS News, also recently installed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that venerable news network.
An Outcome of More Instability
Significantly, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a separate entity. Such a move could be a relief to many at the network, but it’s far from a safe harbor. That arrangement could pave the way for CNN for yet another acquisition. There is no finish line.
If you ask Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is illegal, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance stated that competition laws should disallow both deals.
“Both acquisition attempts would be detrimental to the country, and both should be challenged by anti-trust authorities,” Wu recently wrote.
The Fundamental Issue and a Path Forward
No matter the outcome regarding CNN, the bigger problem remains.
“Our current system is a very anti-democratic system, but we ought not succumb to the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard said. Policy decisions – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this overly commercial monster, and different policy decisions can tackle it.
Is this likely in an era where the head of the FCC refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Change is a distant prospect now, but that is not to say it will not happen in the future.
Initiatives that bolster independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, fund public media, and prohibit the concentration of media power in very few hands are not only possible – they are necessary for a functioning democracy.
Regarding media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations like CNN must not be pieces in the most recent corporate chess match.
