Late Thursday, amid swirling speculation about the Brown University gunman, the network's Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, pointing out the conflicting information and directing people to her channel's 9pm newscast.
Although the network is hardly a impeccable news source, her statement resonated for a lot of people. It is one of the broadcasters where you can find reality-based and mostly trustworthy reporting – particularly during fast-moving events such as the one developing close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious Position During a Business Tug-of-War
But CNN, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a uncertain position as two massive media conglomerates 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, rather than as a question of what benefits the information-seeking public.
“Here is one more case of the profound systemic issues with origins in decades of governmental choices,” noted Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Pennsylvania University.
The debate about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a larger point.
“It gets presented as a corporate drama with powerful individuals as the main characters, but there is scant discussion of the common good,” Pickard added.
A Further Layer: Political Influence
The network's predicament is made more complex by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his main “fake news” foe.
Remember the chants of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his team's disciplinary revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in White House briefings.
Trump now asserts 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 seems to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.
He has grounds to prefer that company 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, parent of CBS News, also recently installed the conservative Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that venerable news network.
A Future of Further Instability
It is important to note, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a independent unit. This might be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s far from a safe harbor. That arrangement could pave the way for CNN for a future sale. The cycle continues.
If you ask Timothy Wu, a lot of this is illegal, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance recently argued that competition laws should block both deals.
“Both acquisition attempts would be bad for the country, and both should be contested by anti-trust authorities,” Wu argued.
The Fundamental Issue and a Potential Solution
No matter the outcome with this particular battle, the larger issue endures.
“What we have now is a very system hostile to democracy, but we ought not succumb to a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard said. Government actions – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this overly commercial monster, and different policy decisions can fix it.
Will that happen in an era where the head of the FCC will not confirm that the agency is independent? Overhaul is very unlikely now, but that doesn’t mean it will not happen in the future.
Policies that support independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, fund public media, and prevent the concentration of media power in too few hands are within reach – they are vital for a robust democracy.
In the world of media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations including CNN shouldn’t be pieces in the latest acquisition battle.
