This past Thursday night, amid swirling speculation about an incident at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins took to social media, noting the confusion and guiding the public to her channel's 9pm newscast.
While CNN is certainly not a flawless news source, her words seemed accurate for numerous observers. It stands as one of the broadcasters where there exists reality-based and mostly trustworthy reporting – notably during crises such as the one developing close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
An Uncertain Position Amid a Corporate Struggle
Yet the news network, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a uncertain position as two giant media corporations 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, rather than as a question of what serves the information-seeking public.
“Here is one more case of the profound systemic issues with roots in many years of regulatory actions,” stated Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the University of Pennsylvania.
The speculation about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a broader point.
“The narrative is crafted as a business story with key players as the protagonists, but there is scant discussion of the common good,” Pickard added.
A Further Element: The Former President
This situation is complicated by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his primary “fake news” adversary.
Think back to the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his team's disciplinary withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in official meetings.
Trump now asserts that the network requires new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will shield him from journalistic oversight. That is one reason why he appears to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
There is a basis to favor that suitor more. For one thing, it is controlled by David Ellison, son of the Trump-friendly Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
Paramount, owner of CBS News, also recently placed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that storied news network.
A Future of Further Turmoil
Significantly, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out 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 set up CNN for yet another acquisition. The cycle continues.
In the view of Timothy Wu, a lot of this is against the law, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance stated that competition laws should block both deals.
“Each proposed deal would be bad for the country, and both should be contested by regulators,” Wu stated.
The Core Issue and a Path Forward
No matter the outcome regarding CNN, the larger issue remains.
“The present media landscape is a profoundly anti-democratic system, but we must resist a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard emphasized. Government actions – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this hyper-commercialized monster, and new policy decisions can address it.
Will that happen in an era where the top communications regulator will not confirm that the agency is independent? Overhaul is a distant prospect now, but that doesn’t mean it will never happen.
Policies that support independent news organizations, aid local journalism, fund public media, and prevent the accumulation of media power in very few hands are within reach – they are necessary for a robust democracy.
Regarding media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations such as CNN must not be tools in the newest acquisition battle.
