This past Thursday night, amid swirling speculation concerning an incident at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, noting the confusion and directing people to her network’s 9pm newscast.
Even though CNN is certainly not a perfect news source, her statement rang true for a lot of people. It stands as one of the broadcasters where one can locate fact-based and mostly reliable reporting – notably during breaking news situations such as the one taking place close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious Position During a High-Stakes Tug-of-War
Yet CNN, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a uncertain state as two massive media conglomerates vie for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Regardless of who wins, the fate of CNN has turned into a high-risk game of business acquisition, not as a question of what helps the information-seeking public.
“This is yet another example of the profound systemic issues with roots in decades of regulatory actions,” noted Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the University of Pennsylvania.
The speculation about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – could it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a larger point.
“It gets presented as a corporate drama with powerful individuals as the protagonists, but there is hardly any discussion of the common good,” Pickard added.
A Further Layer: The Former President
This situation is complicated by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his primary “fake news” antagonist.
Remember the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's 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 asserts that the network requires new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will shield him from journalistic oversight. That is a factor in why he seems to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.
There is a basis to favor that bidder 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 editor-in-chief of that storied news network.
A Possibility of Further Turmoil
Notably, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a standalone company. Such a move could be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s far from a safe harbor. That setup could position CNN for yet another acquisition. There is no finish line.
If you ask Timothy Wu, much of this is illegal, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance stated that competition laws should prohibit both deals.
“Either merger would be detrimental to the country, and both should be challenged by the government,” Wu argued.
The Fundamental Problem and a Path Forward
Whatever happens regarding CNN, the underlying crisis remains.
“The present media landscape is a highly structure that undermines democracy, but we must resist a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard emphasized. Regulatory choices – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this hyper-commercialized monster, and new policy decisions can address it.
Is this likely in an era where the head of the FCC refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Reform is a distant prospect now, but that doesn’t mean it will not happen in the future.
Initiatives that support independent news organizations, aid local journalism, fund public media, and prevent the concentration of media power in very few hands are within reach – they are necessary for a healthy democracy.
When it comes to media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations like CNN must not be tools in the latest merger game.
