On Thursday evening, amid swirling speculation regarding an incident at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins used social media, noting the confusion and directing people to her channel's 9pm newscast.
While it is by no means a flawless news source, her message seemed accurate for numerous observers. It is one of the outlets where there exists grounded and mostly dependable reporting – especially during fast-moving events like the one taking place in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious Situation During a Corporate Tug-of-War
Yet CNN, now middle-aged, finds itself in a precarious state as two huge media empires vie for ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the destiny of CNN has been drawn into a major game of mergers and acquisitions, rather than as a question of what serves the news-consuming public.
“This represents another instance of the profound systemic issues with origins in many years of policy decisions,” noted Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the Pennsylvania University.
The debate about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – could it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a broader point.
“The narrative is crafted as a financial tale with powerful individuals as the protagonists, but there is very little discussion of the common good,” Pickard added.
A Further Factor: The Former President
The network's predicament is further muddied by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his primary “fake news” foe.
Think back to the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at the president’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 claims that the network requires new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will insulate him from negative coverage and examination. That is part of why he appears to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.
He has grounds to prefer that bidder more. For one thing, it is run 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, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that venerable news network.
A Future of More Instability
Notably, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a separate entity. This might be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s hardly a safe harbor. That structure could pave the way for CNN for yet another acquisition. There is no finish line.
In the view of Timothy Wu, a lot of this is against the law, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that competition laws should block both deals.
“Both acquisition attempts would be harmful to the country, and both should be opposed by regulators,” Wu recently wrote.
The Bigger Problem and a Potential Solution
Whatever happens with this particular battle, the underlying crisis remains.
“What we have now is a highly anti-democratic system, but we ought not succumb to learned helplessness,” Pickard noted. Government actions – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this hyper-commercialized monster, and new 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 very unlikely now, but that should not imply it will not happen in the future.
Initiatives that support independent news organizations, aid local journalism, fund public media, and outlaw the accumulation of media power in very few hands are within reach – they are essential for a healthy democracy.
In the world of media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations like CNN shouldn’t be tools in the latest merger game.
