This past Thursday night, as rumors swirled about a shooting at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins took to social media, pointing out the conflicting information and guiding the public to her channel's 9pm newscast.
Although CNN is certainly not a perfect news source, her message seemed accurate for a lot of people. It remains one of the broadcasters where there exists fact-based and generally dependable reporting – notably during breaking news situations such as the one developing in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Vulnerable Situation Amid a Corporate Battle
Yet the news network, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a precarious situation as two giant media empires vie for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the fate of CNN has turned into a high-risk game of corporate ownership, instead of as a question of what serves the news-consuming public.
“This is yet another example of the deep structural problems with origins in decades of regulatory actions,” noted Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Penn.
The debate about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – could it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a broader point.
“It gets presented as a corporate drama with powerful individuals as the central actors, but there is very little discussion of the public interest,” Pickard said.
A Further Layer: Donald Trump
The CNN scenario is complicated by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his primary “fake news” adversary.
Recall the chants of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his administration's retaliatory withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in official meetings.
Trump now claims that CNN needs new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will shield him from journalistic oversight. That is a factor in why he appears to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.
There is a basis to like that bidder more. For one thing, it is led 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 conservative Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that venerable news network.
A Possibility of Further Uncertainty
Notably, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a separate entity. This might be a relief to many at the network, but it’s far from a safe harbor. That setup could pave the way for CNN for another sale. The cycle continues.
In the view of Timothy Wu, much of this is illegal, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that anti-trust laws should disallow both deals.
“Each proposed deal would be detrimental to the country, and both should be opposed by the government,” Wu recently wrote.
The Fundamental Challenge and a Potential Solution
Whatever happens regarding CNN, the underlying crisis persists.
“The present media landscape is a profoundly anti-democratic system, but we shouldn’t give in to learned helplessness,” Pickard said. Regulatory choices – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this overly commercial monster, and revised policy decisions can address it.
Will that happen in an era where the top communications regulator won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Reform is a distant prospect now, but that should not imply it will never happen.
Policies that support independent news organizations, aid local journalism, finance public media, and outlaw the accumulation of media power in a handful of hands are not only possible – they are necessary for a functioning democracy.
Regarding media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations including CNN must not be pieces in the latest corporate chess match.
